Estrangement
by Antique2rose
Summary: This is book 3 of my Entrapment series. After returning from their honeymoon, Daniel and Carolyn work with the challenges of life as a 'normal' appearing family. But a face from the past has come to make sure that does not happen, at all cost. Intrigue, suspense and drama ensue as life at Gull Cottage becomes a tangled web that only Captain Gregg can untangle, if possible.
1. Chapter 1

_I own no rights to The Ghost and Mrs. Muir. The only characters that I own are Lilly, Antonia, Vivian and Kevin Milner, Generals Milner and Ito, and Mr. and Mrs. Tanaka. _

Estrangement

Chapter 1

New Years Eve, 1971

The clock read 12:25 AM. Just a short time ago it was still before midnight. Martha and the children were wearing their party hats and gripped the small party horns in their hands. Jonathan insisted that he needed to practice blowing his horn before the time had come. They had been counting down to the start of the New Year. At the stroke of twelve, the horns blew and streamers flew into the air with a 'pop'!

"Happy New Year!" they shouted in a chorus. All of them except Carolyn. She just didn't feel like celebrating. The best that she could muster was a faint smile.

Everyone had retired to their beds now. Slowly, Carolyn strolled over to the Christmas tree. The glow of the lights were warm to her touch. She casually pulled a silver icicle from the tree and wrapped it around her finger. The lit angel on the top had faded a bit more over the passing year, she observed.

A few feet to her right she felt the familiar pull, but not knowing why. Once again, Carolyn found herself standing in front of the fireplace, her eyes captivated by the former sea captain in the portrait above. In times of doubt or confusion, her feet would walk to his image.

Her lips thinned as she stood in front of it. "Do I know you? Should… I know you?" There was no response. Only the crackle of the fire could be heard. Carolyn traced the outline of the man's hands in the portrait with her fingertips. She squinted as her head began to throb with pain. _'Why?' _, she thought to herself.

A voice came from behind her. "Happy New Year, Carri."

Carolyn turned around and half heartedly answered. "Thank you, Bobby."

—-

6 Weeks Earlier

"It's only eight days until Thanksgiving, Mrs. Gregg," Martha causally reminded Carolyn as she was looking through recipes for the upcoming Holiday.

"Where does the time go, Martha?" Mrs. Gregg was dutifully eating her sandwich from lunch. She pulled a napkin into her hand and raised it to her mouth.

"That's what happens when you have a wedding and honeymoon. All sense of time goes out of the window." The housekeeper licked her fingertips and continued going through the recipes.

Captain Gregg entered the kitchen with his updated look. New shirt and sports jacket, long dungarees, and a trimmed down extended goatee beard. He managed to talk his wife into keeping his original black ankle boots. All in all, a handsome modern day man.

"Well, ladies, how do I look?" He gave them his brightest smile and held his arms out above his sides.

Carolyn left the small remainder of lunch at the table and gave her husband a mock military inspection. Hands behind her back, she circled three times before stopping in front of him. Tongue in cheek, Mrs. Gregg looked over at Martha. The older women hooded her eyes, smirked, and said nothing.

"Well? Surely, It can't look that bad?" Daniel was giving his best effort to not start blustering.

"I think that you're a keeper!" Carolyn brought her hand up to the now smooth area of her husband's cheek. "You don't look so much like your own doppelgänger." She gave him a kiss and fingered his partially bare jawline.

"Yes, this will take some getting used to." The seaman also felt the emptiness of where his full beard used to reside. His partial beard and mustache would have to do.

"It's our first day out together as husband and wife. We should make a good impression. Are you nervous, Daniel?" She took his hand and lead him to the foyer.

"It would be dishonest to say 'no', my dear." Captain Gregg helped his wife get her winter coat on. It was large enough to help conceal the baby bump. Carolyn lifted her pocketbook from the nearby chair and found her keys.

Daniel put on a winter coat of his own instead of his usual antique wool pea jacket. The new couple had only been home a week and already felt the pressure of trying to appear 'normal'. One of the first things that they did after returning was to find a new car. Carolyn paid for the new vehicle while her captain accompanied her invisibly. A brand new Chevrolet Nomad station wagon was waiting just outside of the gate. Caribbean blue, of course.

The snow was just starting to fall as they slid into the new vehicle. Tiny flakes landed gracefully on the windshield. Carolyn sat in the driver's seat and closed her eyes. Turning the key, the car revved to life with no hesitations.

"You don't know how much it means to me to have a new car, Daniel. I won't have to hope and pray that it starts every time that I get in." She had a tear in the corner of her eye which quickly disappeared with a swipe of a finger.

Her ghostly husband slid next to her and put his arm around the top of her seat. He leaned over and kissed the long, golden hair of his wife. "It is indeed my pleasure, love."

"Here we go. First stop, the county courthouse to file paperwork. No one knows us, so maybe that will make it easier." Pulling the gearshift into drive, the new vehicle quietly moved forward.

"We can only hope, darling." Her captain started to watch the snow fall.

A short wait was the only inconvenience that they encountered at the courthouse. Filling out more paperwork and filing more paperwork was per se the norm. Daniel looked pleased when the clerk addressed them as Mr. and Mrs. Gregg. It was music to his ears. Next was a visit to the license branch for a new car plate, so they returned to Schooner Bay where the appearance of the new couple was sure to turn heads. Daniel Gregg wondered if facing an ocean squall would have been easier than facing a town full of cackling hens.

Mr. Gregg opened the door for his Mrs. Gregg who cautiously stepped inside. As busy as the facility was, everything seemed to come to a halt as the couple walked in. Silent stares filled the room as if the pair were movie stars making a cameo debut.

Carolyn hummed and preened her hair while Captain Gregg cleared his throat repeatedly. After a minute or two, people slowly resumed to doing what had previously occupied them.

Finally, the couple approached a clerk at her counter.

"Hello, Mrs. Muir. What can I do for you, today?" The clerk addressed her but was staring at the captain, who smiled gregariously.

"Hi. Actually, Mrs. Newman, it's uh…Mrs. Gregg, now. Mrs. Thaddeus Gregg. This is my husband, Thaddeus Daniel…Gregg. And yes, he's related to Claymore." The surprised woman turned to look at Carolyn straight on.

"He looks nothing like Claymore Gregg." Mrs. Newman's face was flushed and she lowered her gaze.

"Thank goodness," Daniel mumbled under his breath. Carolyn elbowed her husband. "Yes, nice to make your acquaintance, madam." He corrected his previous statement.

"Mrs. Newman. We just need to get a plate for our new car." She forced a pleasant expression on her strained face while feeling whispers throughout the room.

"Of course. I'm sorry. It's just…your husband looks like…"

Carolyn interrupted. "Yes. He's been told that a lot."

At that moment Ed Peavy came into the license branch. Noticing the Greggs, he came over to see if they could use some help. A super hero in the making, he would rescue them somehow.

"Well, nice to see you folks out, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg. Mrs. Newman, are you taking care of them, alright? Dan here is new to these parts, and we wouldn't want him to think of Schooner Bay as inhospitable, would we?"

"Oh no, Constable. No problems here. We'll get them a plate for their new car. Just need to change her name over to Gregg from Muir and add his name to the paperwork."

"Good, Mrs. Newman. I'm sure that they appreciate your help." Ed turned and gave the couple a wink. The tall, lanky man headed back out of the door. If you gave him a cape, he might have tried to leap over a building in a single bound.

Carolyn and Daniel left the license branch with one new car plate in hand. It was time to pick up the kids from school. A larger effort of bravery would be demanded of them and he took her small hand in his. A determined look between them and the couple pressed onward.

—

Together, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg made their way over to Candy and Jonathan's school. The parking lot seemed incredibly long today, Carolyn thought. Parents and teachers watched with curiosity as the kids ran up to both parents with hugs. Carolyn made an extra effort to keep her coat closed, hoping to keep prying eyes at bay.

"Hey, kids. How was school, today?" Carolyn's voice had a lilt in it.

"Oh, the usual." Candy responded as she noticed the stares from kids and adults.

"Yeah. No big deal." Jonathan didn't seem to be aware of the staring that was taking place. "Can I have a ride, Captain?"

"Hop on up, Lad." Daniel stooped down to let the boy climb upon his shoulders. Once the boy was securely in place, he brought himself back up to his full stature.

"Everything sure looks neat up here!" Jonathan pretended to shade the sun with his flattened hand in search of distant lands.

"Perhaps we should go home. This may be enough exposure for one day." Captain Gregg was not the only one feeling uncomfortable. Carolyn and Candy huddled together in an awkward moment feeling multiple sets of eyes upon them.

"Good idea. Candy, get in the car." Mrs. Gregg escorted her daughter to the car and all entered the new vehicle. They drove away as a small crowd of women gathered in the parking lot. Sure enough, the cackling hens started to squawk.

"It's not always going to be like this, is it? People can be so weird." Candy

folded her arms in a demonstration of annoyance.

"It can take people time to adjust to anything that is new to them." Captain Gregg turned around in his seat while Carolyn drove.

"Maybe we shouldn't call you 'Captain' anymore. That will really make people wonder!" The girl looked even more irritated.

"How would you like to address me, Candy dear?"

"Dad!" Jonathan shouted. "We should call you Dad instead of Captain!"

"I think that Jonathan's right. I mean, you know. You really are like a dad to us." She leaned forward and put her small hand on the seaman's large hand that was resting on top of the bench seat. Jonathan followed suit and put his hand on the other two.

"Yeah! You guys are married so you can be our Dad!"

Daniel's emotions were ready to flood the decks. "Dear?" He turned to his wife and swallowed hard.

Carolyn couldn't speak the words, but tears ran down her cheeks as she smiled and nodded her affirmation. She touched her emotions to his. Silently, they blended into one. Her right hand found its place on the hands of the other three.

"We are a family. All five of us." Daniel placed his free hand on the unborn child. A gentle kick was his response.

"Yay!" Candy and Jonathan yelled.

"Can we put up the Christmas tree now?" Jonathan knew that it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Let's get through Thanksgiving first, shall we?"

Everyone laughed as the new station wagon pulled up in front of the house.

—

After dinner, homework and baths were done, Candy and Jonathan had been sleeping soundly with a little help from their dad. There would be no eaves-droppers tonight.

Daniel and Carolyn had Ed Peavy over for dinner that night. The two decided to update the Constable and Martha on the questionable events that took place during their honeymoon. The tall Mr. Peavy wore an expression of concern as he looked at Martha and the newlyweds.

"So, you don't know who or what was hanging around?"

"No. I'm afraid that we could only guess. I believe that it has something to do with that 'black veil' group that spearheaded the abduction of Carolyn and myself." The seaman edged closer to his wife on the couch.

The man who was all legs walked over to Martha and put his hand on her shoulder. "Do you think that Martha is in any danger?" Their housekeeper took hold of the hand that lay softly on her shoulder.

"We don't think so but can't be certain." The captain glided his fingers along his jaw.

"So far Daniel and I are the only ones who hold any interest to them." Carolyn shifted her weight and pulled down her maternity blouse a bit further.

"I hope that you're right." He contemplated sleeping some nights in the police car outside of Gull Cottage.

—-

The following morning came about as usual and the kids were getting ready for school. Martha had their lunchboxes almost complete. Heavy coats and scarves were in order as outside temperatures took a plunge.

The school bus was a bit late, but the kids were ready, so they watched at the window for the big yellow transport to make its appointed stop.

"Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad!" The two kids called out as they dashed for the bus.

Carolyn watched as her 'tough as nails' seaman's heart melted for their children.

—

Today was the big day for Brad and his broker friend to arrive and discuss the price of the ship relics. The pair was expected any time now.

Captain Gregg went over the items once more for good measure, noting time period and condition. It may be even worth another visit to the ship wreck, but not at this time.

—

The bus came to a stop in front of the school. Children filed out of the long vehicle. All were running inside to escape the cold weather. Candy and Jonathan were among the many kids filling the building.

All at once, Jonathan stopped. He stood still as the other kids walked around him. His fingers clutched the handle of the lunchbox tighter. Slowly, he peered over his shoulder and up at the ceiling of the hallway. A familiar, yet unfamiliar sensation came over him and Jonathan could feel the hair raise on his arms and neck. His muscles drew tense and he raced into his classroom.

—-


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Martha brought tea and coffee into the parlor where Brad Williams and his broker friend, Rick Jones, were seated on the sofa. Captain Gregg sat in the chair across from them but not too close to his portrait. Carolyn was comfortable in a chair next to the fireplace where she could be warm. Her toes wiggled in the fuzzy pink slippers.

Having some coffee and polite conversation, Rick was trying to conceal his excitement concerning the found ship relics. He was ready to personally evaluate them and negotiate a price. Speaking with his employer, the man had a good idea of an offer range.

Everyone but Carolyn went into the alcove where items were neatly on display. Carefully, Rick went over each piece and recorded them in a ledger.

"I think that I have all of the information that I need to make you an offer on behalf of my employer. I am prepared to give you 1.8 million for the entire collection, Mr. Gregg."

Having learned his lesson decades ago, Captain Gregg put on his best samurai poker face and remained expressionless.

"I believe, Mr. Jones, that the offer is on the lower side of the value for this collection when compared to similar collections in the recent market."

"I see, Mr. Gregg. I can go a little higher and give you 2.1 million, cash." Rick stood tall at his offer.

Brad gave the appearance of remaining neutral.

"Mr. Jones, sir, if you will look over the collection, I am sure that you have noticed that little to no restoration will be needed. 2.3 million—cash—and you may take it with you today." He still revealed no emotion at all.

No words were spoken and the air was still. In the other room, Carolyn was straining to hear.

"Mr. Gregg, you have a deal." Rick extended his hand and Daniel shook it, proudly.

"Captain Gregg, did you really retrieve these relics yourself?" Rick asked.

Daniel Gregg pulled on his ear. "My team did, Mr. Jones. We extracted them from international waters, so no one may lay claim."

"I'm impressed, Captain. That must be quite an exceptional team of divers that you have!" Rick Jones gave the seaman a look of admiration.

The captain cleared his throat knowing his 'team' was a stuttering 19th century sea ghost and a twelve year old ghost girl. "Yes, they are quite… unique."

Brad took a gulp of his coffee, wishing that there was a splash of Bailey's in it.

"If it's convenient for you, Mr. Gregg, I will be back this afternoon with your money. I will also be bringing with me a few professionals to carefully pack the relics for transport." The broker pulled his heavy coat on.

"That will be fine, Mr. Jones." Daniel put his arm around his wife as all returned to parlor. Carolyn was sipping her English tea and put down her book.

"Rick, how about some lunch?" Brad directed his friend to the foyer and out of the door. The chill hit them as they ventured outside and reminded them that winter was nipping at the heels of Schooner Bay.

"I only heard a little bit of the conversation, Daniel. How much did you get for the treasure?" Carolyn's heart was beating faster as anticipation took over her thoughts.

"Darling, were you trying to listening in? So that's where the children get it from." Her husband gave the wife a half-serious look of indignation.

Carolyn returned with a light punch to his arm. "Quit teasing! How much?"

The seaman's face broke into a smile. "2.3 million, my dear." Captain Gregg stood proud and puffed his chest out.

His wife sat back down to catch her breath. Bringing her fingers to her lips, she muttered the amount in a low voice. "I won't have to worry about bills anymore. I-won't-have-to-worry-about-bills!" Carolyn repeated the words just to hear herself say them.

The captain picked his wife up and placed her on his lap after taking the chair. "No, my love. No more worrying over bills for you. I will give you everything that you can wish for." He pulled her into his embrace, giving her a hungry and breathless kiss.

She tenderly brushed her fingers over his cheek, causing him to give a little growl. "I have you, the kids, Martha, and our child, Daniel. I think that I have most everything a women could want." He gave her another breathless kiss and started a route down her neck.

Martha walked into the parlor during the kissing. She placed her hands on her hips and mimicked a cough. "Lunch is ready, lovebirds."

The kisses ended for now and Carolyn's captain carried her into the kitchen, seating her in front of a hot bowl of soup and a sandwich.

"Would you like something to eat, Captain?" Martha continued to stir the hot soup on the stove.

"Not today, Martha, thank you."

Bringing a chair close to her, Daniel sat down next to his wife.

"Once we have the money in hand, we can give a call to that stingy barnacle and make him a cash offer for my house." The thought of having to purchase his own home back made the sea captain irritated.

Carolyn squeezed her husband's hand. "But when it's done, no one can take our home away again," she whispered.

"Quite right, my dear." The seaman's expression relaxed and Carolyn's sandwich found its way to her mouth on its own. She smiled and bit into it.

With some concerted effort, Mrs. Gregg finished her lunch. Mr. Gregg carried her up the stairs to take a rest in the master cabin.

"I can walk you know, Daniel." She giggled as he laid her down on the bed.

"I will take every reason that I can find to be close to you, darling. Now rest. I will be right here when you wake up."

A blanket levitated onto the expectant mother's body. Carolyn took the fringe into her fingers and snuggled down for a nap. Captain Gregg stoked the fire in their cabin and added another log. Taking his place on the bed beside his wife, he gave more thought on how their newfound wealth could best benefit the family.

—-

90 minutes later, Mrs. Gregg opened her eyes to see her Mr. Gregg laying beside her. He was on his back with hands behind his head and fingers interlaced. From the look on the ghost's face, he was somewhere far away and deep in thought.

She placed her head on his chest, which returned his thoughts to Gull Cottage. Wrapping an arm around his torso, Carolyn breathed a large sigh. She found her mind traveling back to the warm islands that they had visited on their honeymoon.

"Have I thanked you, Mr. Gregg, for taking me on a marvelous honeymoon?" Her fingers started to play with the buttons on his shirt.

"Would you care to show me, Mrs. Gregg?" He kissed the inside of her palm.

Martha's voice was heard in the hallway. "Mr. and Mrs. Gregg? I think that we may have company." Her tapping came softly on the bedroom door.

Carolyn slowly sat herself up. "We'll be right down, Martha." She rested back on her elbows. "The show must go on." She gave him a love pat on his chest as he scowled in protest over the interruption. Buttons needed to be re-buttoned, and in an instant, they were complete.

—-

Brad Williams, Rick Jones, and a few new faces were waiting in the foyer.

"We're back with the capital and some packing people for the items." Mr. Jones opened two brief cases revealing the large sum of money that had been agreed upon.

Brad escorted the packers over to the alcove. Further supplies were brought inside, ensuring the pieces would not be damaged in transit. The people occupied themselves with the task at hand. Occasionally, they would glance over at the array of items.

Daniel, Carolyn, and Rick counted the funds twice. Accuracy was a must.

"Remember, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg, you can't deposit this much money into the bank all at once. It will raise too many questions as to where it came from. We really don't want that." Rick closed the brief cases and handed them to the sea captain.

—-

"The government would take a large amount of the transaction? It would seem that the modern government has not changed all that much."

Captain Gregg was giving thought on exactly where to place the money if not the bank. The couple walked upstairs and into the master cabin.

"He's right, Daniel. There would be a lot of unanswered questions along with a hefty tax pay out. We could end up in deep trouble." Carolyn placed her hands on their unborn child.

"We cannot have that, my dear. Let us start with giving Claymore a call and see what we can do about acquiring Gull Cottage." The seaman put the briefcases under their bed for the time being.

Carolyn dialed the telephone and set up a time for Claymore to come by the house.

"You and my uncle want to discuss purchasing Gull Cottage? Well, I think that I can make time for that. Are you sure? It's not cheap, you know." The current owner already had dollar signs in his eyes at the idea of selling.

"Yes, we're sure Claymore. Just bring a sale contract and the house title." She hung up the phone.

"He's not going to make this easy, Daniel." The ghost's wife reached for his arm.

"Yes, well, I will not be easy on him, either. I will have my home back even if I have to break every bone in his slimy, slithering body!" The captain's temper was rising like the summer heat.

"We'll get it back, dear, just cool down." Carolyn stroked his arm and rose up to give him a kiss which he readily received.

"It cannot be soon enough, my love. His ownership of Gull Cottage has been like a thorn in my side." Daniel's fists were still tightly balled.

—-

Brad Williams was seated in the alcove with Rick as the packers were tucking the last items into the cushioned boxes.

"Carolyn? Daniel?" Brad stepped into the parlor as the two came back down the stairs.

"Everything alright, Dad?" Carolyn questioned as she took her father's hands.

"Yes, dear. The crew is about done and we'll be on our way, soon. I need to get home to your mother. She'll worry if I don't get back by supper."

Carolyn gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I know, Dad."

"Thank you for all of your help, Brad." He presented his hand to his father-in-law. It was still disquieting for the captain not to use the man's proper title.

"Glad to help. I know that you'll do right by Carolyn and the children."

"I will indeed, sir. You can count on it." The two hands parted.

Rick was directing the packing crew through the parlor and out the front door. "We need to go, Brad."

"Mother will give you a call over Thanksgiving, Honey." Brad put on his coat. Drawing the collar up around his neck he followed his friend and crew outside.

—

After taking the bus home from school, Jonathan and Candy burst through the front door. The wind followed them inside while they pushed it closed.

"It's so cold out there!" Candy chattered her teeth.

"It sure is!" Jonathan endorsed her claim.

Martha entered the foyer with hot chocolate in hand. "Coats off and hung up. I have cookies in the kitchen for you pair of icicles." She handed them the steamy cups of hot drink.

"Where's Mom and Dad?" Candy peered around the kitchen and back porch.

"They're in the back barn discussing the ship project." The housekeeper waited another moment expecting the inevitable question. "Aren't you going to ask?"

"Ask what?" They retorted while drinking the chocolate down.

"You don't want to go out to the barn too?"

"It's too cold, Martha." Jonathan stated and Candy nodded her head in agreement.

Martha put her palms on their foreheads, checking for a fever.

—-

Mr. and Mrs. Gregg popped back into the kitchen after the barn visit.

Carolyn hurried to make a bathroom call.

"Martha, we will be expecting Claymore after dinner tonight." Daniel peered around the corner to check on his wife.

"We will, Captain?" The women turned from the oven.

"Yes, and we will require a bit of privacy if you don't mind." The seaman removed his coat.

"Aye-aye, Captain." Martha returned to the stove and started heating water for Carolyn's tea. In this cold, Martha was sure she would request some.

—

If nothing else, Claymore Gregg was on time when it came to him possibly receiving money. He hadn't even seem to notice the cold and happily entered the parlor where the ghost and his wife were seated.

"Let's get down to it, shall we, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg?" Their title rolled off of his tongue.

"So the word is getting around, has it?" Carolyn tried to feign a smile.

"What did you expect?" Claymore said. "When a widow marries a strange man who claims to be another Gregg, tongues will wag! Married, huh? I don't know how you two managed to pull that off, but congratulations, anyhow." The man produced a contract from his coat.

Captain Gregg maintained his composure. "Thank you, Claymore." Putting his arm around his wife's waist, Daniel tugged at her maternity top.

With the child's presence evident, Claymore let out a gasp and choked on his coffee that Martha had brought in.

"Eeeeeeeeee! Y-you're, you're e-expecting!? T-that c-can't happen!" The man's face turned a whiter shade of pale.

"Oh, I assure you that it can and it has. The child is mine!" Captain Gregg squared his shoulders and sat taller. Carolyn's cheeks turned pink and she pulled on several blond strands of hair.

"H-how? I mean...I don't understand. Y-you're not…alive." The stuttering man's mouth fumbled for words, and his small eyes grew abnormally large.

"You don't need to understand!" Captain Gregg shouted. "Are you ready to discuss the price for my house or not?"

"Uhhh...I s-suppose." Claymore sat down in the chair offered to him. It was positioned in front of Carolyn. He couldn't help but stare at the baby belly in front of him. The squirming man began to sweat and was unable to focus making the negotiating a challenge.

The final price for Gull Cottage was the current market value plus an extra ten thousand. On top of being distracted by a pregnant Carolyn, the captain presented the seller with a cash offer. Claymore signed the sales contract lured by the sight of money in his hands. He left the couple, not completely sure about his selling price.

"Claymore, feel free to join us for Thanksgiving." This time Carolyn's smile was genuine.

Closing the door, she chuckled. "Are you sure we didn't take advantage of poor Claymore?"

"The man is not poor, Carolyn. He still owns most of my wealth. But, at least we have our home." Captain Gregg took his wife's hand and began to dance with her back into the parlor.

"I have to admit that you were right, Daniel. Seeing my pregnancy threw him for a loop. I thought that he might faint." Carolyn Gregg continued to waltz with her husband.

"He is predictable that way, Dear."

"Can we come downstairs now?" Two sets of eaves dropping ears were at the top of the stairs.

"Yes, come down, kids."

"We should celebrate! Children, your mother and I now own Gull Cottage. We will never have to leave!"

Repeated shouts of joy poured through the coastal house.

Martha came out from the kitchen. "What's all the hoot and holler about?"

The dancing couple paused. "We bought Gull Cottage from Claymore, Martha! Daniel and I own it now!"

Martha's posture relaxed. "Hallelujah! It's about time. I'll bring out some cake and ice cream to celebrate."

"I heartily agree, Martha." Captain Gregg danced his wife over to the sofa and gently set her down on the soft cushion. The kids joined her as their housekeeper brought in the cake and ice cream.

"I was going to save this cake until tomorrow but now seems as good of a time as any." She cut the angel food cake into sections. Crumbs fell to the floor where Scruffy was quick to gobble them down.

Captain Gregg helped by scooping the ice cream onto the cake embellished plates. He gave his wife a wink as he handed her a full serving. Carolyn's blush was the response that he was watching for. Looking down, sure enough, the ice cream was strawberry.

"Homework done?" Carolyn asked daintily putting the cake into her mouth. Frosting smudged over her lips, and Daniel was quick to kiss it away.

"Everything's done, Mom." Candy spoke while trying to eat a big spoonful of ice cream. A brain freeze made its way upward. "Owww!"

"Can you help me with my spelling, Dad?" Jonathan walked over to Captain Gregg with a crumbled caky plate in hand. All of the frosting had disappeared. Some of it was in evidence on the boy's face.

"Of course I will, Lad." A napkin floated over and Daniel wiped Jonathan's mouth.

A long clap of thunder rumbled above the house and everyone cast a questioning look to the ghost dad.

"That was not me." He stood to his feet and drew his searching eye upward. Carolyn cautiously made her way over to him, her eyes reproducing the same action.

"How many spirits do you know that can cause weather disturbances, Daniel?" She turned to look his way.

"Not many, my dear." His gaze was still on the ceiling and his thoughts debated on what to do next.

Jonathan brought out the spelling homework that he needed for the following Monday. "Here's my list. I want to start with the easy ones first." He handed the seaman a paper. Absentmindedly, the captain accepted it and pulled his attention down to the boy.

Keeping a section of his spirit on alert, Captain Gregg sought the easiest words first as the lad requested. They would go over them again come Sunday evening.

"Candy, can you help me clean up and put things away?" Martha reached down and started to pick up the remaining cake.

"Sure. I can do that." Candy picked up the messy plates and followed the large woman into the kitchen.

An uneasy feeling had crept into the Gregg Muir household for the rest of the evening. Though no one said anything further, all could still sense it. Their eyes were watching all around and closet doors became suspect.

After everyone had fallen asleep for the night, Captain Gregg made repeated rounds of the house. Bringing all of his ghostly senses to bare, he kept close visual on his family, especially his wife and child.

—

"You fool! That stunt tonight could have cost us our advantage! Stay away from the house!" The long black glove of the shrouded being pointed to the one under scrutiny.

"We have waited long enough! I don't want to delay any longer!" He retorted.

"If you aren't patient, you'll lose everything! Do you hear me? Everything!" The first spirit being bellowed.

"I've trained and waited a long time for this opportunity! Just can't stand this much longer. Ever since she moved into that house, I…" The angry spirit paused and slammed its fists down, breaking a table leg.

"Don't worry! We'll make our move soon enough, but everyone must do their part. The timing must be perfect or Gregg could get the upper hand. Once we get rid of him, the wife and children will be yours for the taking."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Carolyn stood on the master cabin balcony and watched her children play an assortment of games below. The temperature had warmed up to 40 degrees, so she let them go outside. She plunged her hands into her coat pockets and wished that her gloves were in reach.

Even though Candy was getting older, she still tried to include her little brother in as much activity as possible. Carolyn knew that it couldn't be too much longer before her daughter would crave more feminine things to engage in. Things that didn't involve her little brother. _'Time really is fleeting,'_ she thought.

Daniel was silently observing her at the balcony door. She emanated the melancholy emotions which her husband could sense. He reached through their pathway and bathed her in comfort, drawing her to himself. Carolyn turned to face her captain, knowing he was there. They met halfway on the balcony and held each other.

"We're wasting time hiding away, Daniel. Candy and Jonathan are getting older right in front of our eyes." Carolyn bit her bottom lip before continuing. Knowing his wife, Daniel waited for Carolyn to complete her thoughts before commenting.

"We should all go to church on Sunday. I don't want to care about what people think of us anymore. I don't care if they see our baby. I don't care if they gossip about us. I want us to live. We need to live as a real family." Carolyn pressed her face deeper against Daniel's chest.

Captain Gregg held his wife tighter. "If that is what you wish to do, then we shall do it, my love. We will stand together. Hang what other people think!"

—

Ed Peavy arrived at Gull Cottage later in the day and rang the doorbell. He straightened his tie and checked the flowers that he had purchased earlier for Martha.

Tonight was their night out on the town. The weather was chilly, but it just gave the constable a good excuse to hold the woman closer.

Daniel opened the door and gestured for Peavy to come into the parlor. He offered a chair and Ed took the seat. It seemed the chair was meant for shorter people as Peavy's knees reached for the sky.

"Martha will be ready, soon, Mr. Peavy. Would you care for some coffee?" The captain picked up the well-loved coffee pot and poured some into a cup.

"Don't mind if I do, Captain. Thank you." Peavy was a man who drank his coffee straight up black. In a few gulps, the beverage did its own vanishing act.

Captain Gregg took his place next to Carolyn on the sofa. Taking hands, they had something to say to the constable-handy man.

"Carolyn and I cannot thank you enough, Mr. Peavy. You have proved to be an invaluable and loyal friend. We deeply appreciate all that you have done for this home." Captain Gregg stood and extended his hand.

The tall thin Peavy unexpectedly blushed. He stood to his feet and shook the ghost's hand.

"I don't know what to say, Captain."

"You need not say anything. Your friendship is more than enough." Daniel moved out of the way as Martha made her appearance.

"What's more than enough?" the housekeeper questioned as her beau presented the flowers.

Carolyn arose and went to hug her friend and employee. Another unexpected blush was on the horizon as Martha felt the warmth in her cheeks come to the surface.

"What are you two doing? You're plotting something and I want to know what it is!" She paused before resuming, giving the flowers a long whiff. "Maybe I don't want to know if it involves your hanky-panky." She shook her finger at them and squinted one eye.

Now it was the ghost's turn to blush. Carolyn just laughed and brought her hands up to partially hide her expression.

"Please, sit down. Both of you." Daniel composed himself, tugged his ear, and escorted the pair to the sofa.

Martha and Ed sat together. Each had a befuddled look on their faces.

"Martha. We want to thank you for all of your help, your thoughtfulness, your loyalty and your friendship." Carolyn tried to clear her cracking voice.

Taking cash from his wallet, Captain Gregg spoke. "Martha. We would like for you to accept this money as a bonus." He handed the housekeeper 10 thousand dollars in cash. Martha could only gawk at the gift.

"Mr. Peavy. Carolyn and I believe that Martha could benefit greatly by having her own car. Would you please go with her and see that she gets one? A new one, that is." Daniel Gregg handed the man 5 thousand dollars. The tall constable was speechless and released a high to low whistle from his lips.

"Oh, and Mr. Peavy, if there is money left over, just keep it as a gesture of our appreciation."

"I've never seen this much money in my whole life!" Martha began to weep. "I can't accept this!" She tried to give it back. Both Daniel and Carolyn gave her the stink eye. It communicated more than mere words.

"But, but…." Martha stood up and Peavy followed suit.

"Martha, I think that you should let these nice folks do you a good deed." Ed physically turned the woman around and nudged her towards the door.

"But, but…" Martha, who was never at a loss for words, lost her words that evening. She was almost out of the door, but then charged back in. "At least hold onto it until I come home." She took a one hundred dollar bill out and shoved the rest into Daniel's hands.

"I'll leave it in your bedroom, Martha!" Carolyn shouted as the housekeeper ran back out of the door.

They could hear Martha yell to Peavy who was walking back to his truck.

"It's gonna be a hot time in the old town tonight, Ed!" She sounded 20 years younger.

Daniel and Carolyn collapsed on the sofa in laughter.

Wiping tears from her face, Mrs. Gregg could feel her child's excitement as well. Movement was in full force. She captured her husband's hand and placed it on her abdomen.

"My, aren't we active tonight," he spoke directly to her belly.

"Can I feel it, too?" Candy came downstairs just in time to be involved in the excitement.

"Sure, Honey. Put your hand right here." Carolyn placed her daughter's hand in the right spot where movement could be felt.

"Wow! That's groovy!" she exclaimed.

Not wanting to miss out on anything, Jonathan appeared coming down the stairs.

"Hey, what are you guys doing? Can I play?" He skipped the bottom step, jumped down, and ran up to his family.

"Would you like to feel the baby kick, Lad?" Daniel asked.

Jonathan took a step backward. "Uh-uh. That's just weird."

"No, it's not! It's groovy!" Candy argued.

"Can we just play a game of 'Kerplunk' or 'Operation?'" Jonathan really didn't want to argue with his sister. He just wanted to have fun with his family.

"Okay. Pick one," their mother said.

"Both! Let's play one of each!" He ran to get the games.

"Boys and their toys!" Candy put her hands on her hips.

Daniel and Carolyn looked at each other and snickered.

After the games were finished for the night, the two kids headed to their separate rooms for the evening. Jonathan fell asleep right away while Candy read for a few minutes. When all lights were out, the ghost and his wife retired to the master cabin.

"Shall we engage in this 'hanky-panky' that Martha spoke of?" Daniel Gregg raised a cunning eyebrow at his wife and then walked over to light their wedding candles.

Carolyn Gregg quietly brought her arms up and around from behind her husband, catching him slightly by surprise. "Why don't we take an excursion, my captain." She moved her fingers to unbutton his shirt, while pulling it out from his dungarees. "We can start by casting aside any excess cargo." Her words were melodious. The shirt dropped aimlessly to the floor. Daniel produced a faux inhale and expanded his chest.

"Now, close your eyes." Carolyn whispered. Her captain was quick to comply.

_'What game could this be?'_ His imagination entertained a variety of ideas.

"Let's see if I have this right," she continued. Carolyn ran her fingers across his collarbone in a most seductive way. "Bow." Her wondering hands sashayed down to his waist creating a long circular motion upon arrival. "Midship." Firmly, Carolyn's hands grasped the area of his back pockets. "Stern." He turned loose a deep, low growl.

"Weigh anchor, my captain, and raise the canvas. I believe that we are ready to cast off," she crooned.

Still from behind, she ran her hands over his bare chest and then guided his arms with hers to lean on the dresser in front of them. Her fingers lightly brushed the curls on his forearms as she made her way back up. Using her feet, she moved his ankles apart bringing his height down to accommodate her.

"Adjusting the ballast." The hands of the seaman's wife were on a tactile journey over her husband's well sculpted 'ship'. First moving back across his chest and then sliding down the sides of his legs, stopping short of the knees.

"Below decks." Waves not from the ocean buffeted her seaman as he emitted an exaggerated groan. She took notice that his boots and socks had vanished. He attempted to turn around, but she held fast to her position.

"Not yet. Steady as she goes," her voice softly cooed. She felt his desire for her building with strength. Carolyn smoothly but firmly pressed her hands up and over his back pockets, removing his wallet and tossing it on the dresser. Her fingers made contact with every ripple and bulge of his muscular physique.

"Strong Bulwarks, I see." She made herself become semi-transparent momentarily and willed for her blouse and brassier to fall away. They also found a place on the floor. Carolyn leaned onto her husband's bare back. "Bring your sails into my wind, Captain." Her hands continued on their journey. Firm, deliberate, strokes, and squeezes made Daniel's head swim. The combined sensations would bring him to the edge of the precipice before she reeled him back in again. The fingers on his hands curled as he struggled to maintain control.

It was the best and the worst kind of teasing for Daniel Gregg. Being touched while not being allowed to touch. Her use of nautical terms fueled his already intense fires. He produced a soft but distinct roll of thunder that permeated Carolyn's being, sending a heightened sense of desire for him reaching through to her outermost extremities. She drew in a sharp breath as his thunder created its desired effect. An inferno of passions flooded their empathic link and she released her grip on him. Spinning around, he took her in his arms and devoured her lips.

"That was intoxicating and maddening, my love. I simply must have you…now." Their lips were still touching as he whispered.

A kiss heavy with desire was her response. Piece by piece, the remaining clothing was strewn on the floor as he took her into their bed. Entwining hearts, minds, spirits, and bodies, they became one in each other. The flames of their candles brightened with each passing hour. Burning in waves of their hunger for one another, the ghost husband and wife had an extended evening of profound new intimacies. The soft thunder continued its mission.

An exhausted Daniel Gregg fell asleep tenderly holding his wife. When Martha arrived back home a short time later, he didn't even stir.

—-

The next morning, Carolyn's alarm clock produced its continuous buzzing. Her fingers groped for the switch that once again would give her the silence that she craved. A minute later she opened one eye to view the time. 8 o'clock AM. Daniel awoke looking absolutely refreshed. Carolyn buried her head underneath the blanket for a five minute respite, maybe ten. Her captain rolled out of the bed and began to assemble his household. Today was the first day that they would all attend church as a family. The scramble against time was on. Almost 2 hours later and everyone piled into the Nomad. Carolyn passed out pop tarts to any open hand that received them before proceeding to the service.

"Are you certain that you are prepared for this, Carolyn?" Daniel touched his wife's shoulder.

"I am, Daniel. No more hiding." Carolyn shook her head and smiled at her seaman husband.

"What does that mean, 'no more hiding'?" Jonathan asked.

"I think that we're about to find out," Martha spoke as she leaned down.

—

Arriving at church, Daniel opened the car doors for all of his family. Manually, of course. He offered his arm to Carolyn and she slipped her gloved hand through his bent elbow. The dress she wore was unmistakably meant for mothers-to-be.

Jonathan walked beside Daniel and Candy walked beside her mother. Martha walked along side of them until she met up with Ed Peavy. The two separated from there.

"We'll see you later," she said to the family.

The new Gregg Muir family proudly walked into the building with whispers, finger points, and all.

Today's sermon focused on the trap of gossiping and the damage it does to the parties involved. Daniel and Carolyn hoped that the cackling hens were paying attention.

40 minutes later, an alter call was given for those needing prayer or receiving the Savior into their lives.

When the service ended, a flood of people surrounded the couple. Much to their relief, most were just introducing themselves to the new face in town and giving congratulations. Only a few people had invasive questions that they asked. Captain Gregg took point and addressed the busy bodies.

"Are you from Europe? How long have you and Carolyn been married? She's having a baby, isn't she? Where did you meet?" Daniel was trying to be patient for his family's sake, but even with his ghostly powers, he had his limits.

"Yes. I am from over seas. There are things that are only discussed in the privacy of the family, but we have been married for several months now. Carolyn is expecting our first born." He kept it as brief as possible.

Ed Peavy and Martha made their way back to the family, giving salutations to those in between. Ed stepped in when he saw the hens crowding The Captain. Being constable was a 24/7 position for the man and this crowd needed breaking up.

"Ladies. Ladies." Peavy raised his hands to motion them to be quiet.

"Whatever it is that you are asking the Greggs, please realize that it is actually none of your business. Go home."

The women gasped and became offended. Turning their backs and lifting their noses, they left. Peavy silently noted that one or two actually looked like the back side of a chicken.

"You have to love his pluck." Martha took Ed's hand.

"My thanks to you, again, Mr. Peavy." Daniel shook his hand.

"Won't you join us for lunch, Mr Peavy?" Carolyn asked.

"I would be delighted to, Mrs. Gregg. Can't stay long, though. They say that there could be a winter storm tonight. I'll need to get the department ready just in case."

"We understand, Mr. Peavy." Daniel was helping Carolyn with her coat.

"How about Martha and I meet you at the house?" Ed was digging in his pocket for the truck keys.

"That would be fine. Come when you are ready." Captain Gregg escorted his family back to their car. The new vehicle was attracting its own attention.

—

Martha had left a roast with vegetables cooking in the crock pot. The wonderful smell hit the family the moment they walked in the front door and their tastebuds salivated. Candy headed for the kitchen to help her mom set the table.

Carolyn retrieved one of the better tablecloths from the cabinet. Spreading it over the dining area, she smoothed it with her hands. "How many wonderful meals you must have seen," she remarked.

Bringing out the largest serving platter, she ran her finger along the edge. The Blue Willow pattern reminded her of the deep blue waters in the ocean. She became lost in the memory of sailing with her beloved Daniel across the sea. Carolyn imagined the sound of water lapping against their boat. The warm days and the romantic nights came to life in her thoughts. She snapped out of the daydream when fireplace logs floated past her in the kitchen, heading to the parlor.

Captain Gregg materialized into the kitchen to guide the marching wood.

—

Once everyone was home, the delicious food was passed around. Stories were shared and laughter abounded. The kids were excused from the table after dessert while the adults drank tea or coffee and continued in extended conversations.

After his passing, Captain Gregg could not have believed that one day he would have a loving wife and family let alone be hosting a lunch for friends with them by his side. It was a wonderful feeling, indeed. He tipped his chair back and savored the time.

"Dad! Dad!" Jonathan came running back into the kitchen.

"What is it, Lad?" Daniel left the chair and came down to the boy's level. Carolyn resisted the maternal urge to rush to her son's side.

"You should look outside! It's getting windy and the waves are really big! The air smells weird, too. I think it's gonna storm!"

"Are they, now. Let's have a look." Grabbing the telescope off of the mantle, Captain Gregg spied the incoming weather.

"I think you're right, Jonathan. We may very well be in for a winter storm." Daniel could sense the storms imminent arrival like he was still on board his ship.

Ed Peavy and the others joined him at the front door. "It looks like your storm is headed this way, Mr. Peavy."

"I'd best be off then, Martha. You know what happens to Schooner Bay when these things hit." Ed turned to the housekeeper who echoed his look of concern.

"Yes. No electricity, Ed," She recited.

"That's right. I need to get things ready. I'll give you a call later. Thanks for the meal, Mr. and Mrs. Gregg." Stealing a kiss from his sweetheart, Ed Peavy set off down the dirt road in his pick up truck.

"I'll bring more wood up to the house, my dear." With a nod from his wife, the sea captain vanished.

"Let's get the kerosene lamps and blankets out, Martha. Then tell me what I can do in the kitchen to help you." Carolyn was no stranger to the winter storms in Maine but was very grateful that her Captain had always been there to see them through.

—

Coming down the hall with blankets in her hands, Carolyn's hurried pace came to a stop. Her eyes probed the surrounding area in the hallway. She could hear the wind howling outside. _'It must just be my imagination and the storm.'_ She thought, but hurried to rejoin her husband.

Daniel had finished levitating the additional wood near the back porch. Popping back in, he found his wife mildly dazed, coming down the stairs.

Sensing the fear that she hid in the corner of her mind, he took her by the shoulders and looked into her green eyes.

"Carolyn? What is it? What's wrong?"

"I'm-I'm being silly. That's all." She feigned indifference and ran slender fingers through her hair.

"No, you're not, Carolyn. Something frightened you. Tell me what happened." Inwardly, Daniel Gregg was scolding himself for leaving her side in the first place.

"I-I just felt like I was being watched. It's silly."

"Where? Show me." Taking her by the hand, he went over to the stairs.

"Here? Is this where you felt it?" His normally soft blue eyes turned much more serious.

"No. Upstairs. In the hallw…." He popped them there before she could finish the sentence.

Pulling her close, he repeatedly scanned the area for any kind of presence.

"Blast! The storm is causing interference."

"The storm is interfering with your powers?" This was news to Carolyn.

"Think about it, Carolyn. Not all storms are innocuous. Some are bound to have powerful spirits, like me, as their source."

At that moment, the electricity went out. A darkness filled the cottage by the sea.

Carolyn wrapped two arms around her husband and closed her eyes. Her fear was on the rise. The howling, whistling winds didn't make it any better. All of the kerosene lamps were downstairs. Thank goodness Martha was with the kids.

A bright light began to show through the darkness. Carolyn slowly opened her eyes. To her amazement, it was Daniel, her husband. His entire being had become luminous. His skin, clothes, and even eyes had become a bright hue of light. His pupils and irises were gone. Her ghost had made himself become…light.

"I had hoped that you would never have to see me this way, Carolyn." Her Captain slightly hung his head and let out a sigh. _'Blast!'_ He muttered under his breath.

She cupped the seaman's face in her hands and lifted it to her own.

"Why would you think that, Daniel?"

He took her hands in his, caressing them with his thumbs. "My dear, it is frightening enough for most mortals to see a ghost in person. To see a ghost in this manner is a different story altogether. I-I did not want to risk frightening you."

_'Silly man ghost,'_ she thought. Carolyn moved her fingers along the edge of his illuminated cheek.

"Kiss me," she spoke softly and brushed the tip of her nose against his.

"What?" He reacted incredulously.

"Just kiss me, Daniel."

Hesitantly, he gave her a peck on the lips. She then opened her mouth and pulled his face to hers. He instinctively responded in like kind and they held a long, deep sensuous kiss. Carolyn became semi transparent during the kiss. His luminosity gradually spread throughout her being. The second story of Gull Cottage was as bright as a lighthouse.

When the kiss ended, Carolyn wiped a tear from her captain's eye. They stood for several moments in a long embrace. "How did I get so fortunate to have you as my wife, darling?" he whispered in her ear.

Hand in hand, they descended the stairway of the costal home. Together, their brightness filled the dark cavity of the main floor. Martha, Candy, and Jonathan came running into the parlor leaving the dimly lit alcove.

"Wow! Cool! Groovy!" Those were the words that arose from the kids. Martha fainted on the sofa.

Carolyn and Daniel looked at the housekeeper who lay lopsided on the piece of furniture.

"Let's light the kerosene lamps," she sighed.

Very good, Dear," he agreed.

After lighting up the parlor with lamps, Daniel and Carolyn returned to their normal states. Martha was sitting up on the sofa.

"If you two are going to pull something like that, can you please warn me, first?!" Martha was still red from embarrassment and fanning her face.

—


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Having no electricity in the cottage meant having no modern heat available. The kids slept in the master cabin with their mother. Snuggled up in her arms, it brought warm memories back to Carolyn of her children's younger years. Martha slept on the sofa in the parlor fairly close to the old hearth. Not very comfortable, she tossed and turned. Captain Gregg kept both fireplaces well stocked and heat filled the rooms. He kept vigil over his family while they slept.

The ship clock rang a bell at 2 AM. Candy pulled the blankets back and rose from the bed. She winced as her feet came to rest on the ice cold floor. In the darkened room, Candy picked up one of the dimly lit kerosene lamps from the desk. A small flame was barely protruding from the wick. With each turn of the small knob, it grew larger and brighter.

The sea captain came over to the girl. "Candy? Do you need something?"

"Actually Dad, I do. I need to use the bathroom." She straightened her nightgown and curled the corners of her mouth down being a little embarrassed.

"Hmm. Alright, Dear. Take the lamp and I'll stand in the bedroom doorway. If you need anything, call out to me." From the doorway, the seaman could keep watch in both places at once. His eyes narrowed, watching the girl disappear across the hall.

He heard the familiar 'flush' of the commode. What happened next, could have awaken Rip Van Winkle. Candy raised a blood curdling scream. In no time flat, Captain Gregg was by her side.

"What happened, Candy!?" his voice sounded urgent.

Carolyn and Jonathan rushed into the bathroom. "Candy! What is it?!"

"I saw something!" The girl was clearly unnerved with her eyes widely open.

Martha was next to enter the bathroom. "What's going on? I heard a scream!"

"What did you see, Honey?" Carolyn bent down to her daughter trying to mask her own concern.

"Mom? Dad? It was in the mirror." The girl pointed over to the sink area where the object hung from the wall.

Captain Gregg went over to the mirror. Drawing forth his ghostly senses, he shut his eyes, and traced the edges with his fingers.

"In the mirror, Candy? C-could it have been your reflection?" Carolyn was hoping for a simple explanation of a more complex situation.

"No! I know what I look like in the mirror! Even in the dark, I know what I look like! It wasn't my reflection! I saw something else."

"What did you see, Candy?" Captain Gregg bent down to eye level with the young lady.

"Dad, I saw something dark. It was wearing a hood of some kind. I couldn't see a face, though." Her eyes fell to the floor not knowing if anyone would believe her.

The seaman glanced up at his wife. "I think that you may be right, Candy. We should all go back to the bedroom. You come too, Martha." He closed the door behind him.

They filed into the master cabin with Daniel bringing up the rear. Jonathan was fidgeting and his face shown with trepidation. Observing the behavior, Captain Gregg came over and put his arm around the boy. "We'll be alright, son."

"It's not that, Dad. I think that I should tell you and Mom something." His face looked as innocent as ever.

With her nightgown a whisper above floor length, Carolyn glided over and stood beside her husband. "What is it, Jonathan?" After everything else, she was afraid to ask. Her face produced an instant of regret.

"It was the other day at school." The boy paused and Daniel squatted down. "Do you remember when we first moved here? I knew Cap…Dad was here. I just had this feeling. It wasn't a bad feeling and I wasn't scared. Well, the other day at school I had that feeling, but it was a bad feeling. It felt like someone was watching me. A bad someone. I didn't want you to worry and…"

Daniel and Carolyn gave the boy a hug at the same time.

Everyone gathered on the bed except for the seaman.

"I don't think that any of us will sleep tonight," Martha said. Apprehension filled the room like an all encompassing cloud.

Captain Gregg walked over towards his binnacle. Taking his swords down from the wall, he put them on. Small hairs were rising on the back of the seaman's neck. Morning could not come soon enough for the Gregg Muir family.

—

A muted dawn crept through the windows of Gull Cottage, but the winter storm was still assaulting the small town. The sun was shining brightly somewhere, just not in Schooner Bay. Over a foot of snow had already fallen with more continuing to mount.

Daniel continued to watch over the members of his household. With a little nudge, they had been sleeping in the master bed for last 4 hours.

Carolyn began to stir and caught sight of her captain standing next to the bed. Hands behind his back, he graced her with a small smile and rocked on his heels. She returned the smile and stretched out her arms. Suddenly recalling the previous night's events, Carolyn sat straight up in the bed. Promptly, she checked on her children who were close. They were starting to stir as well. A sigh of relief came over the mother. Martha stretched and yawned, then realized where she was.

"I'll go downstairs and start working on some kind of breakfast." She hastened to exit the bed and drew on her robe.

It was early in the morning and all were in need of the bathroom. The Captain hung a towel over the mirror making it a little easier for his family to use.

Dressed for the day, Carolyn stood brushing her hair in front of the mirror in the master cabin. She could see her husband in the reflection of the background. He was handsome, strong, and brave, yet sensitive and tender. Everything that she wanted in a husband. She could never imagine being with anyone else, but her Daniel. Their bond was unbreakable. Carolyn would stand by him, always, no matter what was ahead. Putting down the brush, she slid over and embraced him. He held her close. Their thoughts mingled together.

_'I love you, Daniel Gregg. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you.'_

_'I feel the same way about you, my Carolyn. You are my everything!'_

They held a tender kiss that could have given way to more, but two sets of feet had entered the room.

"Eeew!" Jonathan wrinkled his face.

"Leave them alone, Jonathan. If they didn't do that stuff, then they wouldn't have gotten married." Candy reprimanded her brother and gave him a look.

Daniel and Carolyn returned for a quick embrace before giving attention to their children.

With the kids in front of them, the couple proceeded downstairs and into the kitchen. The smell of cooking food brought temporary comfort the the family.

Martha was still more than a little skittish but was able to focus on preparing some breakfast. The gas stove was unaffected by the lack of electricity, so breakfast went on as usual.

"I have hot water for your tea, Mrs. Gregg."

"Thank you, Martha. That sounds wonderful." Carolyn looked forward to the lightly caffeinated hot beverage.

Unbeknownst to to his wife, Daniel spent the better part of the previous night writing her a letter. Not an ordinary letter, but one in case the worst should happen. One that no wife should have to read. A letter that she would have if he were to disappear and not return. After folding, he placed it in an envelope, sealing it with his personal wax and stamp. Turning it over, Daniel wrote her name and tucked it into his wool pea jacket which now hung in their bedroom.

—-

After eating breakfast, everyone gathered at the hearth in the parlor staying close for warmth. Waiting out the storm seemed like the best course of action, at least for the moment.

Carolyn watched her seaman pace the floor. He would glance outside and then return to her, repeating the same sequence over and over. The kids were sitting in front of her chair playing the kerplunk game. Marbles rattled into the chamber as Candy poured them out. Unable to relax, Martha went back into the kitchen where cooking would occupy her time and her mind.

Thunder rolled above Gull Cottage. All eyes in the parlor turned to Captain Gregg…again.

"Not me," he said, unsheathing a sword and spying the ceiling for activity.

"What's going on, Daniel?" Carolyn slowly rose from the chair. Her sewing toppled to the floor, unnoticed.

Before he could answer, three dark figures materialized and dropped down from the ceiling and into the parlor. They were dressed in black with their faces veiled, and each carried an intimidating sword.

Heart pounding, Carolyn scooped up her children and took refuge behind her husband.

"Carolyn, you and the children need to leave…now!" The seaman and the black figures visually evaluated each other. The scene conveyed the impression of a Mexican standoff. There was going to be no backing down on either side. An impending fight lay just on the horizon.

"Carolyn! Go!" he shouted, but never took his eyes off of the dark opponents. Captain Gregg's thunder clapped above the seaside cottage as a direct challenge to the intruders.

Carolyn spun around with her children and ran headlong into Martha who was coming into the parlor to investigate the raucous.

"Martha! Take Candy and Jonathan! Run and hide them! Go!"

The housekeeper promptly obeyed before even having any time to think.

Captain Gregg and the black figures propelled themselves at one another with blinding speed. Daniel pulled out his second sword from the sheath, taking all three invaders on at once. Blades clashed and blows were struck. Having trained with the Samurai many years ago, the Captain put into play moves that the invaders were unfamiliar with. Grabbing one of them in a head lock, he used its body as a shield and the weapon against the other two. Blocking and jabbing, he was gaining ground against his adversaries.

Carolyn stayed behind her husband, but at a distance. A forth black veiled figure materialized through a hole that formed in the ceiling of the cottage. '_A portal,' _she once heard Daniel call them. In his possession, the forth figure held what looked to be an unusual projectile weapon. _'This must be what they used to capture Daniel the first time.'_ She surmised. Carolyn made great attempts to call out to her husband, but he didn't respond. The battle was especially loud, impeding her warnings. She could hear the weapon hum as it came to life. The figure was taking specific aim at her ghost husband. There was not time to plan. No time to strategize. Adrenalin pumped through Carolyn's body. Slow motion seemed to take over the scene that played out before her eyes.

In the time that it takes for three heartbeats, it was over.

One heartbeat. Carolyn braced herself and ran towards Daniel.

Second heartbeat. She rammed her husband as hard as she could with her shoulder, sending him careening across the wood plank floor.

Third heartbeat. The shot that was meant for him, she took upon herself. An energy beam lashed out from the weapon with great force and struck her in the back. Carolyn literally collapsed to the floor.

The three black figures dematerialized as well as the figure from the portal.

—-

Daniel Gregg shook his head and leapt to his feet. Looking toward the ceiling and scoping the empty room, he ascertained his current circumstances. The invaders had disappeared. But something was still terribly amiss. Something…awful..even horrendous, he felt.

"Carolyn!" He called out. There was no answer and their empathic link was eerily void of any feeling whatsoever. It made his skin crawl like insects on the move.

"Carolyn!" His voice reached out like grasping fingers through the parlor that was now in shambles. Panic ebbed its way into the seaman's thoughts.

That's when Captain Gregg caught a glimpse of something that shook him in the depths of his soul.

Seeing it protruding out from behind the edge of the sofa, his wife's hand came into view. Her wedding ring glistened as the sunlight now entered through the cottage windows.

Daniel's swords dropped from his palms, hitting the floor with a clatter. With one ghostly sweep of his hand, the sofa crashed to the other end of the room. He paid it no mind. There lay the seaman's motionless wife. Her disheveled appearance gave indication that the fall lacked any kind of control. Captain Gregg's knees lost their strength and he descended to the floor. His lifeless heart began to race. On hands and knees, he crawled to Carolyn's side. Hands trembling, he checked her pulse and breathing. The heartbeat was slowing and her breaths grew shallow. Placing his hand inches above her face, he willed for all of his strength to transfer over to her being. The drain of power left him lightheaded and he leaned on his free arm for support. The action caused her breaths to deepen and pulse to grow stronger.

Drawing her up in his arms, Daniel cradled his beloved wife. He brushed the hair over her face aside with quaking fingers. Words she spoke to him earlier, resonated painfully in his mind, contorting his expression.

_'I love you, Daniel Gregg. There isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you.'_

The broken seaman expelled a loud, ghoulish wail of anguish that shook Gull Cottage at its very foundation. The reverberation carried for miles...

He gathered the woman of his afterlife closer into his arms, touching their cheeks together. _'It should have been me…' _he whispered. His tears fell moist on her stilled face.

—

Elroy Applegate sat at his kitchen table nibbling on a piece of stale toast and talking to himself. A knock was heard at his door.

"Elroy! Can I come in? I know that you're here! Elroy!" Lilly's voice grew louder.

"Yeah, yeah. Come in," he said.

The girl ghost floated effortlessly through the door and into the kitchen where she found her friend with his toast.

"Did you hear it, Elroy? Something's very wrong!" Lilly brought her face down in front of the jittery ghost.

"Yeah. How could I not hear it? That sent chills down my spine." He put the toast down. "Do you think that we should go?" Elroy stood and pushed the chair away.

"Elroy. I think that they're in trouble. We need to go, now!" Lilly clasped his hand in hers and began to take off.

Together, the pair took to flight.

—-

The door at Gull Cottage had been left ajar. Lilly peered around and pulled Elroy inside as she stepped through with deliberate caution. Seeing the destruction, she gripped the arm of the quivering ghost. Elroy placed his hand over hers. Mouth agape, he spanned the foyer and eased them into the parlor. They stopped when seeing Captain Gregg kneeling on the floor, holding his wife in his arms.

"C-c-captain?" Elroy stuttered.

"It's us. What can we do to help?" Lilly was shaken but still kept her head.

Keeping his back to the pair, Daniel spoke. The grieving ghost's voice was quiet and slow. "Go and find Vivian Milner. Tell her that Carolyn and I need her help… Ask her to come quickly."

Elroy and Lilly retreated out of the door with haste and sped to their assignment.

Daniel Gregg lifted his wife and stood to his feet with unsteady knees. A split second later and the pair were up in the master cabin. Carefully, he laid her on their bed. Pulling up a nearby chair, the seaman took his wife's hand in both of his own. He brought them to his lips for a gentle kiss.

"I am so sorry, my love. I have failed you."

The sea cottage that was once alive with family activity became deafeningly silent. Daniel could hear footsteps coming up the stairs at an even pace. He recognized them to be the ever faithful Martha.

A stout trembling hand rested on his shoulder and the seaman closed his eyes. He seemed unable to turn and look her in the face.

"I told the children to wait until I checked the house before coming out. I-is she going to be alright?" Martha's furrowed brow expressed an unvoiced concern.

"If we can return her back to her body. Her spirit has been taken, Martha." The words came with a bitter taste through his lips.

—-


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5 Word of caution. This chapter contains intense emotional scenes.

Carolyn Gregg opened her eyes. She was laying in an open meadow, gazing at a bright blue sunny sky. Her fingers floated through the tall grass and the aroma of wild roses filled her senses. A dog barking in the distance caught her attention. Sitting up, she spotted the black Labrador bounding towards her through the field.

"Max! Oh, Max! Where did you come from?" Carolyn hugged the dog as he licked her face. She studied her surroundings and recognized the country home that her parents had owned when she was growing up. Taking a moment, Carolyn basked in the warm sunshine. The friendly lab sat in front of her and brought a paw up for her shake.

"Oh, Max! You're such a ham!" Again, she glanced around at the serene views. Her lovely smile faded like the spent flowers of the field around her.

"Wait a minute. This-this isn't right." Carolyn stood to her feet. The dog made attempts to engage her in play.

"This isn't real." A light bulb in her mind flickered on. Fear ran the course of the woman's face. "Daniel? Daniel!" She turned in a circle and searched frantically.

Glaring into the blue sky she shouted. "No! None of this is real!"

In the blink of an eye, Carolyn awoke with a jolt. This time she was laying down on a mattress inside of a chamber that looked very similar to the one that held her husband prisoner.

"What the…." Carolyn spied the area. Placing her hands on her abdomen, a void was felt where a child was once growing. Quickly looking down, she screamed and groped at the area.

"My baby! Where's my baby?!" A sense of desperation overtook the mother.

Then, she noticed something else. Picking up her hand, she saw that it was translucent. Taking the rest of her body into view, she observed the same appearance.

Materializing before her, a spirit wearing the black apparel came forth. It spoke with an even-graveled voice. It reminded her of a dry dirt road in the heat of a summer day.

"The child remains unharmed and still resides in your physical body. Your 'unexpected' presence here is in the spirit realm. I assure you that once we have what we want, you will be returned into your human form."

"Have what you want? What do you… You want Daniel! Why do you want my husband?! Why can't you just leave us alone?" Carolyn was shouting and anxiety surged through her thoughts.

The figure ignored her insistent questions and passed through the barrier with no effort, floating away from her. She attempted to follow but was abruptly stopped by the solid transparent wall.

Hands slapping against her prison, she continued her protest. "Please, just leave my husband alone! We love each other, and we're married. We haven't hurt anyone!" Carolyn pleaded.

The dark figure stopped. It whirled around like a cyclone and pointed a crooked finger at her.

"Your so-called marriage to that ghost is not recognized here, Mrs. Muir!" It recoiled the arm and resumed an opposite course from her.

Stomping her foot, Carolyn wanted to remove her shoe and throw it at the creature. Frustrated, she threw it at the wall instead, letting it drop to the floor. Placing her head in hands, the ghost's wife wept bitterly.

—-

"B-better bring as much medical stuff as you can. I don't know what's wrong." Elroy watched as the ghost nurse opened a doctor's bags and placed items inside. The old leather bag had seen better days but still served its purpose.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Vivian gathered other medical paraphernalia.

"We don't know. Mrs. Gregg was unconscious when we saw her. The captain asked that we hurry." Arms crossed over, Lilly was tapping her foot.

"You two, help me with these." The nurse thrusted a bag into Elroy's arms.

"You take this, Lilly." She gave her a portable oxygen tank on wheels.

The three ghosts were off to Gull Cottage, post haste.

—-

"We need a new plan. This wasn't supposed to happen!" The veiled figure watched as Carolyn Gregg sat on the mattress in her container.

"A new one is forming, even as we speak. It shouldn't take that long to implement." The second figure was obviously less troubled by the issue.

"She could die if we don't return her spirit to her body soon!" The first growled.

"The woman shouldn't have gotten in the way! That's all there is to it!"

Tensions were thickening between the two veiled beings.

—

Vivian Milner speedily floated down into Gull Cottage with Elroy and Lilly trying to keep up. As a nurse, Vivian was well-versed in moving quickly for emergencies.

Martha was waiting for the ghost nurse to appear. "Upstairs, Mrs. Milner. Hurry, please!"

Vivian popped into the master cabin. The seaman moved as the nurse came bedside. Elroy and Lilly arrived with her supplies.

"What happened?" She brought out a stethoscope.

"We were attacked and my wife was hit with an energy weapon that removed her spirit from her body." Daniel Gregg bit at his clenched fist.

"What!?" The nurse looked at him in disbelief. She resumed taking the vitals of her patient.

"That seems impossible!" Her voice grew harsh with frustration.

"And yet it has." His eyes moved to the window of the cabin.

"How is she even alive right now?" The nurse placed the oxygen mask over Carolyn's face and adjusted the flow.

"I have been funneling my strength into her," a weary captain revealed.

Vivian took notice of how the ghost captain was considerably less than ship-shape.

"Take a seat, Captain Gregg. I don't need you to go down on me," she snapped.

30 minutes passed while the ghost nurse continued to monitor her patient and start fluids into her motionless body. Hanging the IV bottle on a hook, nurse Vivian rechecked the connections.

"We'll need to keep her hydrated. I should call Kevin and the General. They'll want to know what has happened here."

"You may feel free to use the telephone on the desk, although it may not be working at this time." Outwardly, it appeared that Daniel Gregg kept his composure. Inwardly, it was a different matter completely. As a seasoned sea captain, he learned to not display negative emotions in front of his crew no matter how dire the circumstances. Everything was kept inside to deal with at a later time.

"What happens if we take Mrs. Gregg to the hospital?" Martha asked.

A heavy false sigh expelled from the ghost nurse as she turned to answer the question.

"Without her spirit, she wouldn't exhibit any brain activity. With that being said, they would most likely speak with her family about 'letting her go.'"

A twist was felt in the seaman's gut.

Vivian picked up the phone, but the line was dead.

—-

Carolyn closed her eyes as she laid on the mattress. A black gloved hand drew closer to her blond hair. Before it made contact, she rolled out from underneath and glared at the being from the other end of the mattress.

"What do you want?" she glowered.

"I am here to check on you," it responded with the same even-graveled voice as the other.

"I'm a spirit. I need to get back into my body!" Carolyn pulled herself into a standing position.

"You will." The statement was simple.

"I want you and your group to leave Daniel and I alone! We don't want anything to do with whatever game that you things are playing." She narrowed her eyes.

"This is no game!" The spirit lashed out.

Carolyn jumped but held her ground. "Your group is playing with innocent lives. I would call that a game!" Tilting her chin up, she threw the veiled being a defiant look.

There was no reaction. '_Same old Carolyn. Just as stubborn as when we were together. Some things don't change,' _he thought_._

The shrouded spirit picked up Carolyn's shoe from the floor and examined it.

_'Still throwing shoes when you get angry, Cari? I remember that,' _he smirked.

The gloved hand offered Carolyn back her shoe. Cautiously, she accepted it.

"Who are you?" she spat.

"That is unimportant… for now." The being turned and floated out of the chamber.

—

Vivian checked Carolyn's vitals. "Your wife is stable for the time being. I don't know for how long, though."

"Thank you, Nurse Milner." Captain Gregg was seated in a chair next to their bed. He held his wife's hand and continued to pass on his strength. His next question was painful to ask. "How is the child?"

The ghost nurse fingered through the old medical bag. "Fine, I think. The heartbeat is strong, so I would say that's a good sign. I'll speak with Elroy and Lilly. Maybe one of them can get word to Kevin and General Milner."

"Very good, Mrs. Milner." Daniel Gregg returned his gaze back to Carolyn's still form. The ghost's appearance looked haggard. His once bright eyes now shown the dark circles of fatigue.

—-

Candy and Jonathan sat on the sofa that had been restored to its original position in the parlor. Elroy and Lilly helped Martha put the area back into some kind of order.

"When can we see, Mom, Martha?" Candy asked.

"Yeah. I wanna see Mom." Jonathan twiddled his fingers.

"Just as soon as someone tells me, kids." Martha sat between them and put her hands on theirs. Worry was plainly written on her face.

Vivian popped downstairs to where the children were not-so-patiently waiting. Seeing their tired faces, she empathized with their concerns.

"You can visit with your mother for a few minutes. She's asleep, but Captain Gregg is with her."

Now the ghost nurse floated over to Elroy and Lilly.

"I need one of you to go and find General Milner and my husband Kevin. Tell them what's happened here and that they should come at once. I'm staying here with the Greggs. I'll monitor Mrs. Gregg and help where I can." Vivian cast her eyes up the stairs to where her human patient lay in a comatose state.

"I'll go. Are they at the… fort?" Elroy volunteered for the journey, rubbing his hands together knowing that he was taking on an important mission.

"They're at the Fort Devons Base in Boston. One Milner should be able to contact the other." Vivian touched the jittery ghost on his arm. "Hurry," she added. Elroy was off.

Vivian returned to Martha and the children. "Stay down here, Lilly, while we go up." The ghost girl acknowledged the request. Like a train, the four of them walked upstairs to be with Carolyn. Vivian had removed the oxygen mask so as to not scare the children. Candy and Jonathan entered the room and found places on the bed in which to sit.

"Why can't she wake up?" Jonathan asked and rubbed his nose.

"This is not a regular sleep, Jonathan. This is a deep sleep, Lad." Daniel wished that he knew the words to make things better.

"You mean like what medicine can do," Candy interjected.

"Yes. Something like that, Dear."

"Can't you help her? Use your powers." Jonathan squirmed off of the bed and over to the seaman.

"It doesn't work like that, I'm afraid. But I promise you that I will do everything that I can. I will find a way to bring your mother back." The Captain opened his arms. Candy and Jonathan embraced their ghost dad.

"I know that you'll find a way. I just know you will!" Jonathan squeezed him tighter.

Martha and Vivian stepped out of the room. Tears were determined to run down from their eyes.

—-

Meanwhile, in Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.

The Old Catholic Bastille church was busy today, Antonia noticed. She genuflected at one of the small alters and rose to her feet. Lighting some candles, she closed her eyes and began to pray.

A disturbance in the main sanctuary caught her attention. Stepping inside she found herself and others staring at a spinning black hole that rose above the pews. Flashes of lightning appeared inside and a man came tumbling out. The black hole then vanished.

"Juan?! Juan, is that you?" Antonia ran to his side.

"Si. It is I," he groaned. Juan Pounce De Leon returned from his captors.

Taking Antonia in his arms, he kissed the woman that was separated from him for so long. Antonia started to weep.

"How… Juan? How did you escape?" The woman dotted her eyes with a hanky.

"I didn't escape, my señorita. They let me go. I have been sent with a message for Captain Gregg."

Antonia already didn't like the sound of this. "I have their telephone number. We can call them."

Ghost and girlfriend exited the church with several pairs of eyes staring at them, but no one said a word.

—

Returning to Antonia's residence, she thumbed through an index on her table and retrieved the phone number. Dialing the operator, Antonia requested the long distance call. The already present beads of sweat on her forehead increased. It was more than just from the heat of the tropical climate.

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but that number is temporarily out of order," the operator relayed.

"Thank you, operator." Slowly Antonia placed the receiver back on its cradle. She wiped her brow with a dish towel.

"Antonia! We must find a way to contact this Captain Gregg! It is most important!" Juan threw his hands into the air. The ghost was exasperated.

"I have another number we can call, Juan. It is the General whose daughter-in-law is a spirit. He knows the Greggs."

"Really? Then we must contact him! There is no time to waste, Antonia. Make the call, my love!"

Antonia removed a second number and contacted the operator. Her fingers were trembling as she dialed the '0' and her voice quivered. This time, the call went through.

—

Invisibly, Elroy checked the buildings on Fort Devons until he came across General Milner's office. To his good fortune, the man was sitting at his chair. The General was speaking on the phone, so Elroy waited for the him to finish before materializing. Occupying his time, the nervous ghost took notice of a glass jar containing candy on the desk and floated two pieces into his mouth. Having been around ghosts, General Milner didn't react to the candy leaving the jar on it's own. He finished the phone call.

"I know you aren't Viv, so what ghost are you?" The General leaned his hand on the desk and pulled the candy jar away.

"Oh, it's me, Elroy Applegate… sir." He gave the General a crisp salute.

"At ease, Applegate. What do you need? I'm in a rush." General Milner turned to his intercom and clicked it on. "Yes, Major Adams? Page my son, Kevin, and have him come to my office right away."

"Your son's wife, Nurse Milner sent me. She's at the Gregg house. They have an emergency and the telephones aren't working."

"Vivian? She's at the Gregg's home? That's where I'm heading. What's happened?" He took his uniform coat from the tree and threaded his arms through.

"I'm really not sure, General. The Captain should probably explain it, sir. All I know is that something has happened to Mrs. Gregg." Elroy jumped when another spirit appeared in the room.

"Crewman Applegate, meet the spirit of Juan Ponce De Leon." The two ghosts made a quick handshake.

"Mr. De Leon? If you will come over this way, I'll show you where Schooner Bay is located on the map. From there, I can direct you to where the Gregg cottage is." The general pulled down a map of the east coast.

"Yes. I think that I can do this, Señor Milner." Juan rubbed a ghost hand over his pointed beard.

Kevin Milner carefully walked through the door, utilizing his cane. Standing up straight, he gave his father a salute. The general returned the salutation.

"At ease, Kevin. We have a situation here."

Kevin eyed the two ghosts and then his father.

"What was so urgent, sir?" The son exhibited proper respect for his superior officer and father.

"This is Juan Ponce De Leon. He was just released from the Black Veil group with a message for Captain Gregg. Vivian is over there now, Kevin. She's taking care of Mrs. Gregg. We need to go. Mr. De Leon says that he can take us but doesn't know how to get there. I've shown him a map."

Kevin Milner's mind was reeling to and fro trying to take in all of the information. "Wait! Viv's there? So, my guess is that we're popping over?"

"That's right, Kevin. First to Schooner Bay and then over to the house. They've had a bad snow storm. No power and no telephone.

" Are you ready, son?" The General took his son's hand.

"Ready when you are," he responded.

Juan came over and took their hands in his. "We are off, señors!"

One jittery seaman called out. "Hey! Wait for me!" With that, Elroy vanished alongside the others.

—

Carolyn Gregg found herself nipping the fingernails on her hand. A habit that she hadn't exercised since being a teenager. Disgusted, she threw her arms down to her side. Minutes later, Carolyn was twirling golden strands of hair around her fingers. Making the discovery, she growled and tightly folded her arms with clenched fists under her armpits. Taking after her husband, Carolyn began to pace the floor. Mid way through the chamber, she stopped. Turning around, she found one of the veiled spirits watching her.

"Have you come to check on me again? I'm the same as the last time that you checked in on me, just more frustrated. No, make that angry, actually!"

"I see," he said. "We should know something, shortly."

"Know what? Tell me! What will you know!?" She slapped at the container once again, but there was not response. Carolyn started to remove a shoe but changed her mind. The pacing resumed.

—-


	6. Chapter 6

_A word of caution to the reader. This chapter is intense, suspenseful, and contains very strong emotions._

Chapter 6

It had taken time for Juan Ponce De Leon to get his bearings, but he arrived to Schooner Bay and then into Gull Cottage. Elroy reached the cottage first to alert everyone of the impending guests.

Juan, Kevin, and General Milner popped directly inside the foyer. Kevin lost his balance at the touch down and nearly fell to the floor. General Milner was quick to give a hand to his son.

"You should sit down, Kevin." He directed the young man to a chair in the parlor.

"Is that an order, Dad… sir?" He gave a sheepish smile.

"You better believe it is, son!" The general helped him into the awaiting chair.

"My apologies," Juan bowed. "I am not used to flying with 2 people, perhaps."

Vivian caught wind of her husband's voice and materialized before him. They held an embrace, being grateful to be together.

"I'm glad that you and your dad could make it up here, Kev." Relief washed over her pale but lovely face. A shadow then took its place. "I wish that it had been under better circumstances."

"Yeah, me too, Viv. How is she?" Kevin sat back into the chair exhibiting a tired appearance.

"She's stable for the moment, Kevin, but her spirit has been stolen from her body."

"What!?" a collective of surprised raised voices spoke.

"It's that black veil group, isn't it, Vivian?" The general's tone was grievous and his expression became contorted.

"Sounds like it," the nurse said.

"Where is Captain Gregg? I must speak with him in private." Juan wasn't sure who to ask but searched the faces of the room.

Captain Gregg materialized at the top of the stairway. "I am here. Come, follow me." He vanished in a snap. Juan vanished also.

Both spirits materialized on the widow's walk at the top of Gull Cottage. Snow had accumulated, but it made no impact on the translucent ghosts.

"Do you know who I am, Señor Gregg?" Tiny snowflakes passed through Juan's ashen face.

"You are the spirit of Juan Ponce De Leon. Antonia is your… girlfriend. You were kidnapped by the black veil group but have been released to give me a message."

"Yes, Señor Gregg. That is correct." Juan waited. The wind whistled and tossed the snow around their feet.

"I am fairly certain that I know what they want, but please relay the message." The captain sounded bleak and placed hands behind his back.

"They want… a hostage exchange, señor." The historic explorer watched for the seaman's reaction.

Daniel Gregg simply closed his eyes and nodded to the spaniard. The tiny snowflakes passed through both spirits as a larger gust of wind swept over the roof. Thunder snow could be heard overhead.

The two spirits remained on the widow's walk for several minutes to exchange information before returning to the interior of the cottage. Daniel would see to his wife and children. Juan rejoined the variety of guests in the cottage parlor. Consumed by his thoughts, the explorer remained silent.

—

Daniel Gregg materialized back into the master bedroom. Martha and the children were ready to head back downstairs when he stepped in.

"Martha, I need a few minutes to speak with Candy and Jonathan," Captain Gregg requested in a soft but serious voice. The kids walked over to their ghost dad.

"l'll be in the kitchen if you need me," she grimly responded, lightly slapping hands on her thighs.

Daniel gave his children a big, bear hug. "I love you, both. I consider you my children. Candy and Jonathan? I need to go away for a time."

"A trip to get Mom back?" Jonathan was quick to ask.

A pained expression gave way to ghost's face as he shut his eyes. "Yes. A trip to return your mother. I don't know how long that I will be gone, but help Martha take care of her until I can arrive back. Can you do that?" He held their hands.

"Are you gonna be gone a long time?" Jonathan was now focused on his Dad, not wanting the seaman to leave.

"I could be, Lad."

Candy started to wipe her eyes of the small, moist tears. "It's not fair!" she stormed and stomped her foot.

"No, it's not, Dear, but this is something that I need to do." The seaman's voice grew even softer attempting to disguise any cracking. "I'll return at the soonest possible moment."

Daniel Gregg gave his wife a ghost whisper in her ear and gently kissed her lips. Just for a fraction of a second, he waited to see if she would awaken. Having not, he stepped back and took his entire family into view one more time before vanishing from sight.

—-

Vivian entered the master cabin to find Jonathan and Candy with red eyes and cheeks. They were sitting quietly with their mother. Spanning the room, Vivian came to the realization that Captain Gregg was nowhere to be found. Her eyes darted for one end of the room to the other.

"Kids? Where's your Dad?" The ghost nurse stiffened her posture. She had a bad feeling.

"He went to get our Mom back," Jonathan said while smearing the tears over his face.

"Yeah. He has to take a long trip and doesn't know when he'll come home." Candy continued to watch her mother with a guarded gaze. Her voice took a bitter tone.

"Can you two go downstairs and tell Martha to come up here? I could use her help." The nurse fished for excuses.

"I guess that we can." Brother and sister walked down the creaky stairs to find Martha who was, of course, in the kitchen doing what came so naturally. Cooking.

—

Captain Gregg materialized in the back barn where his horse, Goliath, stood in an old run-down stall. Seeing his owner, the horse gave a small whinny and shook his head. His long black mane flipped from side to side.

Putting the saddle on, Daniel readied the steed for the coming journey.

"We need to go, Goliath. I could use your help, my friend." Giving a nod, the Percheron acknowledged the ghost's request. Daniel climbed onto the back of the mighty horse. Together, the two made a jump into the spirit realm.

—-

This part of the realm was often accompanied by a thick mist that hung close to the ground. At a steady trot, it seemed to part as the horse and rider made their way through. Sweeping side to side, the seaman kept an eye on his surroundings. His senses scoped the area time and again.

The valley region was as desolate as the desert with verbal mirages that assaulted Captain Gregg's hearing. Whispers of words and phrases that he had not spoken came to him in his own voice. Words that stabbed him like a pirates blade.

'Get out! Take your family, Mrs. Muir, and leave! I have never felt anything for you!'

'You need to go, Carolyn. Find a man who is still among the living.'

'**Y-you're getting married, Mrs. Muir?! W-who? When? Does he** **love you more than…'**

'I never want to see you again, Mrs. Muir! '

'Don't go, Carolyn! I need you!'

'**I don't love you! Be gone!'**

'**You're the one that I have been searching for…'**

**'**I have always been a bachelor and I will always remain a bachelor!'

The mirage of voices overlapped one another growing louder and heavier. The connotations of words and phrases began to feel like an ever-increasing weight pressing on his mind and spirit body. This was a torture that Daniel Gregg had never experienced before.

_'This place is truly haunted,_' the seaman thought to himself. _'It is no wonder that not even spirits venture here.'_ He nudged the horse with his heels and Goliath went from a trot into a gallop. "Go!"

—

Martha served the children and guests a late but tasty lunch. She moved up the stairwell and into the master cabin.

"How is Mrs. Gregg doing, Nurse Vivian?" she inquired.

"Steady, but I'm afraid that she may start to slip, shortly. Captain Gregg is… gone." The ghost replaced the mask and opened the valve, allowing the precious oxygen to reach her patient.

"Gone!? What do you mean, gone?" Martha moved her hand to close the bedroom door.

"The kids said that he left to find his wife, to return her to her physical form." Vivian laced her fingers together. "I don't know exactly what that will mean."

"Does anyone else know?" The housekeeper searched her thoughts for clues.

"I don't really know. He only spoke with the kids about it, I think."

"Well, I'm going to find out!" Martha marched out of the master cabin and down the stairway. Her low thick heels were especially loud on the old wood treads.

Hands on her waist, Martha continued her march into the parlor where the guests were talking amongst themselves. "Captain Gregg is gone and I want some answers! Kids, I want you to go up to your rooms until I get this straightened out." Her gaze set about the room like an FBI interrogator.

"Yes, ma'am. C'mon, Jonathan." The two Muir children trudged up the stairs and to their rooms.

"Alright, who knows where the captain went?" She swept an eye over each individual.

"Don Juan or whatever your name is, tell me what you know!"

The spirit was indignant. "I will have you know that my name is Juan Ponce De Leon, not this Don Juan that you speak of!"

"Well, just tell me what you know, Juan!" Others in the room also appeared to be interested in what the spirit knew.

"Your Captain Gregg has gone to take his wife's place so that she may return to her human body." The ghost breathed a heavy mock sigh and leaned into a slouch.

With the absence of any speech or sound, dead air cascaded into the cottage room. Floating glances toward one another, the small group struggled for words of expression.

Finally, Kevin broke the string of silence. "Why would he just… go? Why didn't he tell us?!"

"It was part of their terms, my friend. Your Captain must go alone and surrender himself to these fiends, then his wife will be released back into her body. He did not have much choice, I'm afraid. Now, I must get back to Antonia. If you have further need of me, General, please call her home." Juan bowed as he backed away, then faded from view.

—-

In the distance, Captain Gregg could see 3 darkened shapes. Behind them stood a mountainous range that was engulfed by a dense and lingering fog. Riding forth, he recounted the instructions given to him by Juan.

'_You must go through the 'Valley of Desolation'. Once you have reached its end there, you will be met by the ones who are to be your escorts. More than likely, you will be restrained by the same method of spirit capture that you have experienced before. Do not resist your captors, señor. Your wife's safe return is dependent on your cooperation.'_

The last directive resonated in his mind.

_'Your wife's safe return is dependent on your cooperation.'_

_'Your wife's safe return…'_

_'Wife's safe return…'_

_'Safe return…'_

The sea captain's eyes grew cold and hard with a stare at his intended escorts. His posture stood rigid upon the back of the muscular horse beneath him. He felt a loathing for them continue to deepen, these black spirits, creatures, whatever they may be. Dreaded curses formed on his lips, but he uttered not a word of them aloud.

Riding closer to his predators, Daniel Gregg met their gaze with his. A battle of wills was was silently declared.

"I will agree to your terms on one condition." Daniel gave his most threatening scowl to the trio, but they barely flinched.

"You are in no position to make demands of us!" one of the them snarled.

"Perhaps not, but it would be in your best interest for me to be cooperative. I only ask to see my wife. Send her back and I will be yours without issue." He kept his expression firm.

The three spirits exchanged looks that spoke without words.

"Dismount your beast, Gregg, and we will take you to her. No treachery or she will pay the price for your foolhardiness!"

Daniel Gregg descended from his mount, giving the animal a pat on the neck.

"You cannot come with me, my friend. I must go alone from here."

The eyes of the horse turned blood red as he reared up. The spirit horse turned loose of a ghostly shriek like none had heard before.

"Calm your animal or we will take matters into our own hands!" The dark spirit growled.

Taking the reins, he pulled the steed back down.

"Easy, Goliath. Easy, boy. Remember what I told you." Captain Gregg came eye to eye with his horse and pulled some sugar cubes from his pocket.

Giving a few angry snorts, Goliath accepted the cubes and seemed appeased.

In moments, the spirit of the seaman disappeared into the fog, escorted by his captors.

Passing through caverns, a light could be seen towards the far end. The smell of musty dampness hung heavy in the air. It emptied out into one room. Multiple gray doors lined the wall. That was the last thing that Captain Gregg would recall seeing. Now, everything went black and his thoughts were stilled. Could a spirit lose consciousness?

Head throbbing, Daniel staggered to his feet. Clearing the fog from his mind, he stole a glance at his hands which had been bound together. An energy band kept a firm hold of his wrists. Struggling to free himself, the bands only tightened down more.

"This way," a voice commanded.

Another room came into sight and the door opened on its own. One look and Daniel's world came crashing down. Inside of a containment chamber, a tired and weary Carolyn was leaning against the barrier wall. Breaking free of his escorts, he ran to the transparent barrier that was determined to keep them separated. Carolyn dropped to the floor eyeing her husband who stood helplessly watching. Hot tears ran down her cheeks as she mouthed the soundless words that pierced both their hearts.

"I'm sorry, Daniel. I love you." Carolyn placed her open palm against the barrier.

Overcome by his own emotions, the seaman was unmindful of his own tears that ran unrestrained down his long face. Placing bound hands on the barrier opposite hers, their empathic link broke free. The full range of emotions that they had been trapped inside, rushed into each others being, heavily impacting their spirit bodies. His love caressed Carolyn's bitter grief while her love filled his empty, aching heart. Captain Gregg concentrated his remaining strength through their link and his faint image appeared inside of Carolyn's prison. Husband and wife came within a fraction of touching, but the white light of an energy weapon pulled her away, vanishing from the chamber. His outline faded from view with a pained roar that echoed through the adjacent caverns. Daniel recalled the nightmare that he had on their honeymoon.

Turning himself around, Captain Gregg pressed his back against the barrier and slid down the wall. Physically and emotionally exhausted, dark circles of fatigue made their presence known once again.

With hooded eyes, he glared at his escorts that now gathered in front of him. Lowering their heads and concentrating, a visual portal formed above the concealed spirits. Straining to bring his head up, Daniel gazed into the portal and saw a view of the master cabin in Gull Cottage. Carolyn's spirit had returned to her body. She lunged from their bed and began screaming out her husband's name in vain. With no response, the ghost wife shrunk to the old wood floor. She wept more hot blinding tears against their dire and fateful circumstances.

The seaman sank deeper down and shut his eyes as tears ran down and wet his partial beard. The white encompassing light lashed from the weapon and the spirit of Daniel Gregg plunged into darkness.

—

**_From the Author_**

_This was a difficult chapter to write. Many strong emotions in play here. It's a sad time for our OTP couple, but I want you to know that it is temporary! Hang in there, with me. They are about to stumble into something much bigger than what was first thought! Thank you for reading!_


	7. Chapter 7

_Word of caution. Intense chapter_

Chapter 7

In the darkness that now surrounded Captain Gregg at his capture, he dared to wonder if this was indeed going to be his new reality. Heaviness and grief weighed on his heart at the contemplation of not being with his wife and family ever again.

Deep within his spirit being, a sense of peace began to form like a light radiating inside of a dark storm. A still, small voice recited words of encouragement. Words that held a life of their own and dispelled his darkness. It felt as if his afterlife was being held by unseen hands.

_'No matter what happens, Daniel, you can trust Me. Trust Me, Daniel. Trust Me.'_

Like a famished man set before a feast, he partook of the words spoken within him. The sea captain found an anchor in the midst of his deadly squall. Unexpected hope is the most well received.

—-

Later that same night.

A dark storm cloud settled over the town of Schooner Bay. While no drops fell, dozens upon dozens of the black veiled spirits rained down. Holding hands, the large group surrounded the small town, sending out a vibration that cast all of the population into a deep, foreboding sleep. Completing the task, they turned to their next assignment. Lowering their heads and concentrating, the menacing faction began their version of_ 'ghost speak.' _Their ghoulish suggestions permeated every square mile and even beyond. This blind offensive continued for most of the night and repeated every night for an entire week solid.

—

Eyes fluttering open, Captain Gregg was becoming aware of his surroundings. He fully expected to be residing in one of the containment chambers as before. Coming to his feet, he spun his line of vision around several times.

_'This is no containment chamber,_' he reasoned to himself.

Blinking several times and shaking his head, Captain Gregg absorbed the sight before him. It was Schooner Bay, but not the Schooner Bay that he remembered. City blocks of broken, abandoned buildings that had long been over grown by weeds and wild vines toyed with his understanding. Disoriented, he brought a hand to his head while leaning against a broken bench at the splintered remains of a pier. In the growing silence, he neither saw nor heard any signs of life. The town was void of any humans or animals of any kind. Ironically, Schooner Bay had become, in all ways, a ghost town.

'Gull Cottage! Carolyn! The children!' Instantly, he popped over to the home that he had built from the ground up.

Daniel Gregg stood in front of what once was his home. It lay in the same condition as the town. Abandoned, broken, and gradually being reclaimed by creeping foliage. All of the windows had been broken out, perhaps at the same time. A crooked front door was hanging open, only being kept in place with one hinge still attached. A knot formed in the seaman's throat and a tightening was felt in his chest.

Slowly, he floated inside the cottage by the sea. Much of the contents were no longer there. The little that was left had been ravaged by time and the elements. His portrait lay face down on the floor and appeared to be disintegrating from rot. Casting a look upstairs, the sea captain mentally prepared himself to enter the master cabin. Popping in, he found the bed that himself and Carolyn had shared. Tattered sheets shrouded the once sacred marriage bed. A small pile of fabric was positioned near the headboard. Picking it up, Daniel recognized it as the remains of Carolyn's nightgown. Bringing the garment up to his face, he rubbed the fabric against his cheek.

"Oh, my love! What has happened to you? To everyone….?" A despondent Captain Gregg eased himself down onto the bed, clutching his wife's nightgown.

—-

Thanksgiving Day 1971

"Martha? Is the turkey ready?" Carolyn set the china dinnerware on a brand new tablecloth that she happened to find on sale. It pleased her so much to have the beautiful piece displayed on the holiday table. A sense of satisfaction filled her mind.

"Soon, Mrs. Muir. Maybe about 20 minutes longer and it should be done." The housekeeper-cook removed the meat thermometer from the breast of the roasting bird.

"Wonderful, Martha. Our guests should be here, soon. What did Ed say that he was bringing?" Carolyn gave Martha a puzzled look.

"A bottle of wine, Mrs. Muir. The 'good stuff', he said." She gave her employer a sweet smile as she looked forward to seeing her beau.

"That's right. I remember, now," Carolyn said as she gave a last minute shine to the goblets.

"Oh dear! Mrs. Muir, do we have any more matches laying around? It looks I've run out here at the stove."

"Sure, Martha. There's some in the parlor. Let me get them for you." She placed a reassuring hand on the other woman's arm.

Walking to the fireplace, Carolyn picked out several matches from a box. She turned to proceed back into the kitchen, but stopped. Instead, her attention was pulled back to the portrait of the sea captain that hung above the mantle. Finding herself staring, she glanced down to the crackling fire. _'What a magnificent man,'_ she muttered to herself. Smiling, Carolyn returned her face to the portrait.

"You know that you can come to Thanksgiving dinner, if you want, Captain. I'm giving you an official verbal invitation." She giggled and enjoyed her playful, though imaginary gesture.

"So, here you are talking to that painting, again. Really, Cari. If people see you doing that, they will think that you're crazy." The voice came from behind her.

"About as crazy as me talking to the ghost of my dead husband?" Her smile turned upside down.

"Touché, Cari. You have me on that one."

"Go find something else to do, Bobby. I'm busy with company coming." Carolyn quickly walked past the ghost and into the kitchen.

"I actually do have other things to do, but I'll come by later." The ghost of Bobby Muir clenched the black veil behind his back and dematerialized.

—

Willing the veil and hood over his head, the deceased husband of Carolyn Muir was unrecognizable. Casually, he opened a door and entered a large, but dimly lit room. Humming a vintage tune, Bobby Muir walked over to windowed mirror where Captain Daniel Gregg was in plain sight.

"Hey, you! Gregg!" He sneered in the gravel voice.

Hearing his name, Daniel glanced around the room. He spotted the fiendish spirit in the dresser mirror. Rising from the bed, he cautiously approached the mirror.

"What has happened to my wife and family?!" he demanded as his fist slammed down on the dresser. The ghost captain looked weary.

"Yeah. About that. I've been debating on telling you or not. It's been a real toss-up what would bring you the most pain, knowing or not knowing." Palms up, Bobby raised his hands up and down as if they were the scales of justice.

"You arrogant S.O.B., tell me what happened to them!" Daniel's eyes narrowed and he leaned forward onto the dresser.

"Alright, you've convinced me, but first you should know who I am." He removed the hood/veil combination and spoke in his own voice.

"Recognize me?" Bobby held out his arms.

"I do not know you," Daniel growled.

I'll tell you, then. My name is Robert Muir and **I'm** Carolyn's husband!" The ghost's arrogance came across stronger.

The eyes of the sea captain turned to fiery flames. With a mighty yell, he thrusted his hands toward the mirror, but they encountered the hard reflective surface. His efforts were futile.

"Captain Gregg, you've been relocated into what we call 'the point of no return' mirror. Go ahead and have a look behind me." Bobby moved to the side so Captain Gregg could clearly see.

Hundred of mirrors floated freely around the large room, completely at random. Each mirror held images of himself, Carolyn, the children, and at times, several others. All of the mirrors displayed different scenes. No two were exactly the same. An ice cold chill traveled through the seaman's arched back.

"This entire place is referred to as 'the mirror dimension.' Its host to an array of possible other realities in someone's life. You are witnessing things that could have happened in your own, but didn't. Once you've been placed inside one of these mirrors, you can't escape and you're much too dangerous to simply keep in a containment field. This is your new home, Captain Gregg, forever! Oh, and by the way, no one really knows what happened in the world that you've been placed into. Some kind of disastrous event that destroyed everything on the planet, including spirits. The only thing to come back is the plant life. Too bad, I guess."

Daniel Gregg was mourning a possible reality that he never lived.

"And I, Captain Gregg, will be returning to the real world." A smug expression lined the spirit's face.

Putting two and two together, Daniel Gregg caught onto the spirit's hideous plan.

"You want Carolyn back!" The words cut into his ghostly heart. "You're insane!"

"No, Captain Gregg. I am determined! I will have my wife and family back."

"Carolyn will never give in to this… madness! She loves me and I love her!" Testosterone levels were off of the scale as a spiritual custody battle for the family ensued.

"Captain Gregg." Bobby Muir checked over his fingernails to demonstrate the nonchalant demeanor that he held. "Carolyn, the children, and everyone else will never even know that you existed except in the history books. The memory of you is being erased even as we speak!" He feigned to clean dirt out from one of his nails.

"You cannot possibly erase me from the memories of everyone!" he fired back.

"Alone? No, you're right. I can't do that." Holding his index finger up for the captain to see. "But… but 200 of us? We will accomplish it! You will be unable to stop us! You have no idea who and what this group is about! We all work together as one, each having established goals. And my goal, Gregg, is to have my wife and family back!"

Clasping his hands together, the ghost of Bobby Muir vanished from sight.

_'I must find a way to escape this blasted mirror! I must save my wife and family from this madman!' _A frustrated and desperate Daniel Gregg concluded.

—

Later that Thanksgiving Day.

"I want to know why you're here, Bobby Muir! Why have you decided to start haunting me?!" Carolyn folded her arms and threw her head back.

"I told you, Cari. I want us to be a family again. I-I know that I've screwed things up really bad and I'm sorry. I'm a different man now, Cari. Death has changed me."

"I can't trust you, Bobby. You know that. You won't even allow me to have the memory of how I got pregnant!"

"I told you that it was for your own good, Cari. It was a terrible event and I just don't want you traumatized by it. When the baby is born, give it up for adoption and everything will be fine."

"Ugh! I'm going to sleep now. Go!" Turning out the light, Carolyn entered the bed and pulled the blankets up over her head. "Leave my room, Bobby!"

The ghost disappeared.

Two hours later, Carolyn had a strange sensation come over her. Opening her eyes, she saw a face on the pillow next to hers. Leaping to her feet, she drew a gasp of air.

"It's just me, Cari. I'm sorry. I just wanted to be close to you. I-I wouldn't hurt you for the world. I'm sorry." Bobby sat up in the bed.

"Get out, Bobby! Just get out!" Carolyn was infuriated.

Once more the ghost dematerialized.

Carolyn sat on the edge of her bed. Dropping her head into her hands, she wept. An hour later she fell into a deep ghost-induced sleep.

"I didn't want to do this the hard way, Cari, but it looks like that's the way it's going to be."

Leaning close to his widow, Bobby Muir started a nightly ritual of producing his _'ghost speak'_ over her. His suggestions became, for him, a reasonable means of getting what he wanted.

_'Carolyn Muir. You are my wife. I am your husband. Candy, Jonathan, you and I are a family. You will succumb to my wishes. Carolyn Muir. You are my wife. I am your husband. Candy, Jonathan, you and I are a family. You will succumb to my wishes…..'_

Over and over he made the ghostly suggestions into her ear. Carolyn fought and resisted the best that she could. She tossed and turned violently, beads of sweat running down her face.

—

It had been several days since his entrapment into this mirrored dimension, and Captain Gregg was still unable to find a way out. All of his searching provided nothing but dead ends. He grew to his worst when imagining what that horrible man-ghost was doing to his wife and family. Forcing himself to refocus, he watched the other mirrors in the large room.

_'What other possible realities were there?'_ he thought.

One mirror shown how Carolyn and himself met. Instead of holding her ground, she ran from the cottage, screaming. Taking her family, Carolyn Muir never returned to Gull Cottage.

Another mirror played out a scene of him bellowing at her. _'Get out! I never want to see you, again, Mrs. Muir!' _In tears, Carolyn and her family left the cottage. He recalled hearing the words as Goliath and himself crossed the desert of desolation. "You idiot!" He called to himself in the mirrored scene.

The next mirror revealed another scene of what took place when they first met. To his surprise, the two were heavily involved by the first days end. Intimate kisses were taking place as their bodies intersected. "How did **that **happen?" He commented and rubbed his beard.

The one that followed beheld both of them in tears. "You need to go, Carolyn, and find a man who is still among the living." Another phrase that Daniel had heard when crossing the desert.

Captain Gregg continued to watch the other mirrors.

An angry Carolyn was packing her family into the car. Daniel was trying to block her way. _'Don't go, Carolyn! I need you!' _This was another piece he remembered from the desert crossing.

One mirror demonstrated that he was cheating on Carolyn and she had found out. "I'm just like all of the rest of your women!" She ran from their room, weeping. Watching it play out, the seaman's stomach started to churn.

Another mirror showed one angry Captain Gregg. _'Get out! Take your family, Mrs. Muir, and leave! I have never felt anything for you! _Carolyn left Gull cottage in tears.

The one that followed was similar. '_I don't love you! Be gone!'_

The next mirror. '_Y-you're getting married, Mrs. Muir?! W-who? When? Does he love you more than…' _Carolyn was marrying another man. Daniel had never told her of his true feelings for her. Now, she was leaving…for good.

Daniel's throat felt tight from a large knot. He reached to unbutton the collar, but it was already open. An increasing ache announced its intents in his head. Bringing fingers up, he massaged his temples.

_'Perhaps it is best if I do not indulge in these other possible realities.'_ He decided.

—

December 7, 1971

"Breakfast is ready, Mrs. Muir." Martha tapped on the door of the master cabin.

"I'll be down shortly, Martha," a frazzled Carolyn Muir responded.

The aftermath of another fitful night shown on her countenance.

_'Why can't I get any rest. I seem to be sleeping, but I feel so exhausted.'_

Carolyn Muir convinced herself to get out of bed. She was going to see her doctor. Maybe he had answers to her exhaustion issues.

—

"We have to do something, Elroy!" Lilly vented the frustration rising inside at her nervous friend.

"What are we gonna do? We barely escaped when those black veil things descended on Schooner Bay!" he retorted.

"I don't know, Elroy, but I have to try. Captain Gregg is missing and those things have taken over the town and his family. The Samurai army isn't around. I'm going!" The ghost girl dematerialized and spend off.

"Ohhhh! I just know that I'm going to regret this! Wait up!" Elroy Applegate vanished and joined his friend.

—-

"Mrs. Muir, you can't go on like this! You could go into premature labor and lose the baby and possibly your life. I'm prescribing strict bed rest for you. Stay off of your feet, Mrs. Muir." Her obstetrician was adamant.

"I'll see that she follows your orders, Doctor." Martha shot her employer and friend a serious look.

"Good. See that she does or it's to the hospital for the duration of the pregnancy."

After the appointment, Martha and Carolyn took the elevator down to the main floor.

"You stay here, Mrs. Muir. I'll go and bring the car around for you." Martha's gloved hand fished through her pocketbook for the keys.

"Yes, Mother Martha," Carolyn teased.

The two women shared a smile.

Disappearing from view, the housekeeper went to get the car.

A young hand grabbed a surprised Carolyn and pulled her into a janitor's closet. She gave the young lady a once over. Before she could say anything more, the girl hurriedly spoke.

"Mrs. Carolyn. Please try and remember. This isn't your life! You're being brainwashed by dangerous spirits! You have a completely different life. A life that you love with the captain. I have to go, now, before they find me. Here, take this." Lilly presented Carolyn with her red hair ribbon before vanishing into thin air.

A shaken Carolyn staggered out of the closet. Seeing Martha, she composed herself and made her way out to the car. Cold December winds threatened to open her maternity coat. She held it closed and slid herself into the warming vehicle.

The drive home was quiet except for the housekeeper's reprimands. Without any warning Carolyn asked the question.

"Martha, do you know who the father of my child is? How did I become pregnant?" Carolyn didn't take her eyes away from the windshield, but her heart was pounding.

One could only hear the hum of the car engine as it sped down the highway.

"I-I don't know, Mrs. Muir. I can't seem to remember." She blankly stared down the road that was just beyond the steering wheel. "It's like one day you weren't pregnant and then suddenly…."

"Suddenly, I was very pregnant." Carolyn finished the sentence. "Martha, does it feel like something is missing?"

"What do you mean, Mrs. Muir?" She glanced over to the expectant mother.

"Like a period of our lives is missing?"

"Well, now that you mention it, I've been wondering if I was just getting old or losing my mind." Carolyn's housekeeper looked relieved to discover that someone else had noticed the inconsistency.

—

"C'mon! I've got them off of your trail, so we need to get out of here!" Elroy took the girl's hand in his.

"Thanks, big brother." Lilly gave him a gentle smile and they vanished.

—-

Later that same morning.

"Tell me what you're up to, Bobby? I know that you have something in mind. Tell me." Carolyn fingered Lilly's hair ribbon.

"What do you mean, Cari? I'm not lying. I told you that I wanted us all to be a family, again. It's true!"

Carolyn paid close attention to his body language and knew the owner's manual front to back on Bobby Muir. She could tell that he may not be directly lying, but he was definitely keeping something hidden. Same old Bobby. Nothing had really changed. She wrapped the red hair ribbon around her fingers and closed her hand, tightly. Her mouth twisted and she kept a secret of her own.

—

Day turned to evening and Carolyn readied herself for bed. Staring at the typewriter, she bit her bottom lip. _'There's got to be a way that I can write my work without harming myself or the baby. The doctor didn't say that I couldn't bring the typewriter to bed, did he?'_

Bobby Muir popped into the master cabin to bid Carolyn goodnight. It was becoming his nightly habit.

"So, Bobby, are you concerned about me?" Carolyn baited the hook.

"What kind of question is that, Cari? Of course I am." The ghost was mildly offended.

"Well, if that's the case, then maybe I should tell you what the doctor said today." She cast her line into the water.

Bobby paused. "Doctor? W-what did the doctor say?" He nibbled her bait.

Carolyn jiggled the line. "The Doctor said that my exhausted condition is dangerous. He has restricted me to bed. If I'm not careful, I could lose the baby and possibly my life."

"Cari! For heaven's sake, why didn't you tell me this earlier?! Get to bed and stay there! You'll be okay." The deceased husband ran his hands through his hair. His nightly 'ghost speak' came to a halt.

_'Hook, line, and sinker,'_ Carolyn thought to herself. From that night on, Carolyn's condition greatly improved. It proved her suspicion that he was manipulating her mind as she slept. '_Why?' _That was the big question. _What is Bobby Muir hiding?_

—-

One week later, the calendar read December 14th. Carolyn slipped on her robe and tiptoed to the bathroom. Turning the handle on the bathtub faucet, water poured through the spout.

_'A nice bath. That's exactly what I need.' _Bending over, she ran her fingers through the water's warm flow. _'Just right.'_

Carolyn positioned herself on the commode while waiting for her oasis to fill. Placing a hand in her pocket, she felt the familiar folded paper that resided there. Pursing her lips, Carolyn removed the secret that she kept hidden. Unfolding the paper, she took in the words that were written.

_'Mrs. Carolyn. Please try and remember. This isn't your life! You're being brainwashed by dangerous spirits! You have a completely different life. A life that you love with the captain.' _

Carolyn continued to read the words over and over, again. Closing her eyes, she tried to recall the missing pieces to her memory. Her efforts were again rewarded with an awful headache. Folding the paper, she tucked it back into the pocket of the robe.

Cautiously climbing into the water, unanswered questions flooded her mind. Settling into the warmth, Carolyn reviewed them in her thoughts.

_'Who was that girl? Was she a ghost? Where did she go? Who was going to find her? The dangerous spirits? What life was she talking about? What captain? Who was she talking about?'_

Carolyn's inquisitive mind would not be still. Not with so many questions that needed answers. Leaning her head against the bath pillow, she tried to relax and let the soak take her away.

—

Silence. The sound of silence. Not even any crickets.

Captain Gregg lay on the bed in the master cabin. Stretched out on his wife's side, he draped his torso with her nightgown. For the millionth time, Daniel attempted to tap into his empathic connection to Carolyn, but it remained empty with each effort. He likened it to continuing to knock on the door of a house that had been abandoned. Unanswered questions ran like a plague through his thoughts.

_'What was happening to Carolyn? Does she remember me? Does she remember that I am the father of the child she carries? Are Candy and Jonathan alright? Is that beast of a man touching my wife? Worse. Is he forcing himself on her?!'_

Daniel was unable to tolerate such surmising. Reaching for a heavy lead crystal vase, he hurled it at the dresser mirror that was also a one way portal. The immense force of the impact caused it to shatter, but the pieces remained in place. To his amazement, the fractures were mending themselves. The entire mirror returned to one solid piece. All, except for a small jagged shard that fell to the dresser top. A hole lay where the shard once fit. Slowly, Captain Gregg came close to inspect the void. Blackness. Using his index finger, he inserted it into the empty area. The appendage went through.

_'Could this be a chink in the armor? A weak area, perhaps?' _he pondered.

—-


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Using her toes, Carolyn produced swirls in the water beneath beneath the shrinking bubbles. The once warm oasis was becoming tepid…

'_Time to get out,_' she thought.

Wrapping a towel of suitable size around her expanding torso, she stepped on tiptoe out of the bathtub. Poised in front of the mirror, something out of the ordinary caught her eye. Tracing a shoulder with her fingers, she came to an odd realization.

_'Tan lines? I have tan lines. How would I have tan lines in December?' _the baffled mother pondered. It was another inconsistency, she presumed.

Picking up the fresh clothes, Carolyn dressed and returned to the master cabin climbing into bed. She retrieved the paper from her robe and unfolded it, hoping that her deceased husband was not in the vicinity. In the nightstand was a pen. Quickly, she scribbled down the words 'tan lines'. After another moment she also added 'unknown pregnancy' to her list.

_'It's time to start keeping track of these things, Carolyn,_' she told herself.

Tucking the pen and paper back into the pocket of her robe, she tossed it on the foot of the bed.

A gentle tap was heard on the old bedroom door.

"Breakfast, Mrs. Muir." Martha peered around the corner.

"Thank you, Martha. Come in."

The faithful housekeeper-friend entered with a breakfast tray and placed it over Carolyn's blanketed legs.

"Martha, I'll be coming downstairs this afternoon when Mr. Peavy arrives with the Christmas tree. I want to watch when the kids decorate it." Carolyn sipped her tea and eyed the bountiful meal that was set before her. _How can I possibly eat all of this?_

"I think that can be arranged, Mrs. Muir. Would you also like for me to make an appointment for you at the hair salon for a cut? It seems to be getting unusually long, Mrs. Muir," Martha pointed out.

Carolyn ran her fingers through the blond strands and observed the length.

"Actually, Martha, no, I don't want to cut it."

"Really, Mrs. Muir? I thought that you liked wearing your hair short."

"I know, Martha, but I just want to grow it out longer. I don't really understand why, I guess." The two woman looked at one another.

"Alright, then. You let me know if you change your mind, though." Leaving the room, Martha shrugged her shoulders.

"I will, Martha. Thanks." Carolyn continued to finger her hair as the housekeeper left.

Reaching over to her robe, Carolyn retrieved her paper and added 'long hair' to the growing list.

—-

The new location of the Samurai spirits camp was coming together well. Periodically, the warriors would move about the providence to different Samurai districts spread over the island of Japan. It proved beneficial to both spirits and humans as the group continued their patrols in service to the Emperor.

A loud spirit horse shriek pierced the hearing of occupants in the camp as Goliath materialized in the middle. Blood red eyes, the ghost horse was rearing up on his back haunches before crashing down with his front hooves all the while persisting in his shrieks. He repeated the pattern over and over.

"Isn't this the horse that we gave Captain Gregg? He has gone crazy!" one warrior commented.

General Ito stepped forward. "No, he hasn't. This is a message!" The general carefully approached the agitated Percheron. Placing a gentle hand on the mighty horse's nose, Ito spoke to him in the native Japanese language that the horse was raised with. Goliath calmed and gave several nods to the commanding general as questions were presented. An apple materialized in Ito's war worn hand and he offered it the ghost horse. Picking up the red fruit, Goliath commenced in chewing the crispy treat.

General Ito expeditiously walked over to his awaiting men who had now gathered as a group. Raising his sword in the air, Ito thundered his command "Ready the warriors! We have a search and rescue that will lead into a confrontation with our enemy! Ready yourselves at once!" United as one, the warriors shouted their battle cry and began preparations.

—-

Observing the damage that the crystal vase had inflicted on the portal, Captain Gregg procured any heavy projectiles that he could lay hands on. Large rocks, cement chunks, iron, lead and other weighty items. Propelling them at the mirror, he tested to see what further damage he could accomplish, escape being his ultimate goal. Oddly enough, weight had no impact on the mirrored portal whatsoever. The wood dresser however, was greatly damaged. Drawers were broken and protruding from the frame.

_'It must be the combined materials that make up lead crystal that is the key factor,' _he theorized while stroking the tip of his beard.

Without notice, the portal began to shimmer like water, revealing the spirit of Bobby Muir positioned on the other side.

_'That insidious beast is back! He must not see the hole that I created in the portal!' _Daniel mentally assembled any distraction techniques that he could think of.

"What do you want, Muir?!" He was visually shooting daggers at the ghost.

"Well, I came to check on you and to let you know how wonderful things are working out with **my **family. You know, I had almost forgotten what a great kisser Cari is. Yep, she can really pack a wallop with those lips of hers!" Bobby had his best bedroom eyes on.

"So, you have come to gloat, have you?" the seaman was trying his hardest not to let his temper get away from him. Hands behind back, his balled fists were quaking.

"Don't mind if I do. Thanks for breaking in the other side of the mattress for me. It's nice and comfy next to Carolyn. Oh, and we had a great family Thanksgiving dinner together. I can't wait for Christmas morning! The kids are going to love what we bought for them! Yeah, we're putting up the tree this afternoon. Gotta love being a family and decorating the Christmas tree together!" Bobby Muir was being extra smug, plunging the poison of his words deeper into the heart of the seaman.

Despite his valiant efforts, Captain Gregg's face was beet red revealing the fury building inside. Muir had planted the verbal images in his mind that made the captain want to vomit.

"You call yourself a man!? How dare you, Muir!"

"I dare because I am Carolyn's husband and my children's father. That's how I dare, Captain! You, on the other hand, are just a ghost of an old sea dog who has seen better days. You-mean-nothing-now. Nothing! Be seeing you, old dog!" Giving the captain a salute, the image of Bobby Muir was fading away.

Picking up a cement block, Daniel Gregg hurled it at the vanishing image of the Muir ghost. A great storm formed over Gull Cottage, thunder claps and bolts of lightning struck while a monsoon of rain enveloped the broken dwelling. A direct reflection of the Daniel's pent up rage.

The portal incurred no damage from the block but split the marble top of the dresser, causing the drawers to further fall open. Clothes tumbled to the floor precariously along with other items. Squatting down, he sorted through the familiar garments, mostly worn by his wife. There, hidden in the drawers were faded photographs, being time worn with creases and lines. Theater tickets torn in half, their memories were left in bits and pieces. Satin ribbons from Carolyn's hair, souvenirs of their honeymoon together. They were small traces of a love from a world that he had never lived in. In theory, these items shouldn't bring him pain, but theories do not feel emotion. They don't touch the shards of a love that once thrived in this very room. This world, this broken world, was real enough for Daniel to feel grief. Collecting everything in his hands, he sat on the floor, reminiscing about his own honeymoon and musing over unfamiliar pieces that would forever remain a mystery.

—-

December 18, 1971

The smell of cedar. Carolyn took another long whiff as she entered the deep closet in the master cabin.

_'Let's see what I have to wear for Christmas, if anything,_' she gently brought a palm to her growing abdomen.

Parting through the first line of hanging clothes, she moved to the back of the closet. Sliding more hangers over, Carolyn started her search at the beginning of the rack. Coming across something unexpected, she paused her pursuit.

"What's this? Why haven't I seen this in here before?" Stepping out of the closet, she held up a large dark antique wool pea jacket. Under close inspection, it wasn't hard to see that jacket had endured many a storms.

"This must have been yours, Captain Gregg."

Carolyn stepped over to the mirror that hung on the dresser. Playfully, she smiled and held it against her torso. The child inside of her womb began to move about with intensity.

"Whoa! What's gotten into you?" Putting the jacket down, she placed both hands on her belly. The movement ceased as her child stilled. _'How odd,'_ she thought.

Picking the jacket back up, she held it against her torso once again. Her baby had the same reaction. Carolyn repeated the same sequence two more times. Her child reacted each time. '_How…?' _The expectant mother grew more puzzled.

Slightly contorting her facial features, Carolyn smelled something. It was light, but fragrant. Feeling silly, she brought her nose up to the pea jacket and sniffed. Cedar. She sniffed the cuff and sleeve. Cedar. She sniffed the collar. _'What!?' _Bringing the collar close, Carolyn took a long whiff.

_'H-how could this be?' _She thought while once more experiencing the smell.

Snatching her favorite perfume from the dresser top, she dabbed a small amount on her wrist and inhaled. "They **are** the same. What is my perfume doing on the collar of Captain Gregg's old wool jacket?" Bringing the collar close, she took another deep whiff. The combination of her perfume with remnants of sea and salt from the man were intoxicating.

Carolyn did something impetuous. Removing the jacket from the hanger, she put it on. Now, she stood in front of the mirror. The over-sized jacket hung down to her thighs and her hands were hidden inside of the long sleeves. The child was more active than ever. Tears rolled down the expectant mother's face.

"I-I don't understand this. I don't understand any of this." The tears were still running down. Carolyn closed her eyes and tried to remember. The pain in her head began to return with a vengeance. Quickly, she removed the paper from her robe and jotted down with her other clues, _'Captain's pea coat with my perfume.' _

Taking off the jacket and stuffing it under the bed, Carolyn collapsed on the floor in a spike of agony.

Hearing her hit the floor, Martha rushed up the stairs, barging into the master cabin.

"Mrs. Muir! What happened?!" She helped the mother-to-be back into the bed.

"B-blinding h-headache, M-Martha…" the words struggled to leave Carolyn's lips coherently.

"You've been trying to do too much, Mrs. Muir! Now stay in bed! I'll go get you some aspirin and an ice pack. Don't you dare get out of bed! I mean it, Mrs. Muir!" Martha's instructions were of a serious nature.

"I-I won't, Martha." Carolyn laid on her pillow still clutching the pen and paper in her hand.

—-

Captain Gregg collected all of the largest lead crystal items that he could find in his home. Standing near the bed, he proceed with an onslaught of hurling the crystal upon the mirrored portal, nonstop. One piece after another hit the portal with a resounding crash. More small bits fell onto the broken dresser.

"Blast! I need more crystal!"

The sea captain took flight, heading into the remains of Schooner Bay to find more of the items to use as projectiles.

—-

Riding hard and fast on their horses, the Samurai army was on the move, Goliath leading the way. Coming up on the Valley of Desolation, the army didn't hesitate. Having past experience with this valley, they had already known the best way to pass through. As fast as you possibly can go.

Goliath brought them to the exact spot where he had left Captain Gregg.

General Ito addressed his eager aggressive troops.

"Dismount your horses and search for the entrance. It must be here somewhere, and we will find it!"

Another shout broke forth from the warriors and the hunt for an entrance commenced.

—

Late in the evening, standing in front of the hearth in the parlor, Carolyn addressed the man in the portrait.

"I-I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I'm not even sure who I am anymore. I wish that you could help me, Captain." Carolyn sat back down in the chair and warmed herself by the fire. She took pleasure in the beautiful Christmas tree that her children had decorated a few days earlier.

"You're not talking to that painting again are you, Cari? It's never going to answer you back. I'm here. I'll listen to anything that you have to say." Hands on his hips, the Muir ghost was proud and perhaps even arrogant.

"Thanks, but no thanks, Bobby. I think that I'll just go to sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a big day." Carolyn rose from her chair and walked over to the stairway that lead to her bedroom.

"Let me know if you change your mind, Cari." Bobby Muir watched as she went up the stairs.

—

After giving her teeth an extensive brushing, Carolyn glided her tongue over the surface of the smooth enamel. Satisfied with her efforts, she made her way into the master cabin, closing the door behind her.

Fiddling with the folded paper in her robe pocket, she decided to remove the item and look it over.

_'Mrs. Carolyn. Please try and remember. This isn't your life! You're being brainwashed by dangerous spirits! You have a completely different life. A life that you love with the captain.'_

_Tan lines_

_Unknown pregnancy_

_Long hair_

_Captains coat with my perfume _

Carolyn folded the paper and returned it to the pocket of her robe. She placed it on the foot of her bed and pulled the bed linens down.

Pausing before climbing in, she bent down and retrieved the wool pea jacket from under the bed. A quick shake and she put it on. Running her hands up and down her sleeved arms, she began to weep.

_'This is crazy, Carolyn Muir,' _she said under her breath as she gave herself a hug in the jacket.

Still wearing the captain's pea jacket, she turned off the light and climbed into the bed, pulling the covers over her body. For unknown reasons, the jacket made her feel better, even protected. Her child seemed to enjoy it, too. Turning on her side, Carolyn maneuvered into a more comfortable position. An unusual crinkle sound was heard. Turning over, she heard it again. It appeared to come from the mysterious jacket. Turning the light back on, Carolyn reached her hand into the seaman's pockets. Slowly, she pulled out a white envelop. A mischievous grin crossed her face with curiosity ruling over privacy. Turning it over to the front, she read the words aloud.

_"To my beloved Carolyn."_

The envelop tumbled out from her fingers. A strange sensation ran through her body and she began to fell warm from the inside. A thick lump formed in Carolyn's throat as she lowered her trembling hand to grasp the envelop. Bringing it closer to see, the wax stamp read 'DG.'

"T-this can't be for me. The man died 100 years ago." Examining the envelop, it appeared to be modern. Not being able to withstand the mystery any longer, Carolyn broke the wax seal on the envelop and pulled a vellum paper from inside. It was a hand written letter to 'Carolyn.' Her hands still shaking, she began to read.

—-

_My Dearest Carolyn, November 21st, 1971_

_If you are reading this letter, then it is entirely possible that I have unwillingly been removed from your side and am unable to return._

_My darling, please take comfort in knowing that you are the love of my after life and all of my life. There could never be anyone else for me but you, my precious Carolyn. Even if my physical presence is missing, I will always be with you and always love you. Look into the trade winds and you will find me ever whispering your name._

_ Remember our wedding and honeymoon in the Caribbean. The boat that we sailed and the love that we shared. You will find what you need, hidden within our boat in the back barn, my darling._

_Our child that you carry needs you and you need them. Candy, Jonathan and Martha will help to see you through this storm. Be strong, my love. Be strong for me, for our unborn child, and for our family._

_Think of me and remember that love never dies. One day, my Carolyn, we will find each other again._

_Eternally yours,_

_Daniel Gregg_

Carolyn Muir Gregg. Was that her name? The tears ran down her face. A dam in her heart had burst. Grabbing the pea jacket, she plunged her face into the wool to stifle a loud cry. A tight cringe in her stomach was felt. Leaping from the bed over to the trash can, Carolyn expelled her dinner. What started out as a regular evening evolved into a long night for Carolyn Muir Gregg.

—-


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Finding the entrance to the caverns proved to be more of a challenge than expected. Removing his war helmet, General Ito eyed the cliff that rose above the army. The coarse rock face gave no indication as to the entryway inside. Its crags and ledges only seemed to simulate 'would-be' access points. An elaborate mix of natural colors and textures created a near perfect camouflage to the enemy lair. Even the most experienced warriors were befuddled by the mystery location.

"Make a way inside." Ito drew his sword and motioned for the warriors to be silent. Utilizing his own spirit powers, he ran the tip of his weapon horizontally over the rocky surface in a straight line. After approximately 12 feet, Ito stopped and examined the area closer.

"Here is the weak spot. Bring the explosives. We make an entrance." A horse that carried the needed materials was brought forth. Before long a massive explosion jolted the mountainside with rock tumbling down in a landslide. The once-hidden caverns became exposed for all to see.

The ghost army rushed through in droves, including Goliath. Their war cry reverberated throughout the chambers, catching the occupants by surprise. Chaos arose from the rubble as stunned black veil operatives fled their assigned positions, many times with a scream.

"Apprehend any spirit that is not being held captive! If they resist, do what is necessary. Find Gregg and release him!" General Ito commanded his charging Samurai warriors.

—-

December 24, 1971

Morning. Candy and Jonathan were up at their usual school time, but it was now Christmas break. Full of energy, they bounded down the stairway and into the kitchen where Martha had their favorite cinnamon toast breakfast waiting.

"I can't wait! Tomorrow's Christmas!" beamed Candy.

"Yeah! Me neither! I hope that I get the model train and ship that I asked for!" Jonathan stuffed half of the toast into his mouth making it very difficult for further conversation to take place.

"I hope that I get the new Chrissy and Velvet dolls that I asked for! You can make their hair grow! Candy swallowed a mouthful of milk. "Hey, Martha? Isn't Mom up, yet?

"Not yet, Candy. Let's give her more time to sleep. She may have had a rough night." Their housekeeper was also concerned about her employer but made the effort to not allow the children to see.

—-

The Mistress of Gull Cottage was indeed still asleep. Her night had been long and full of tears that threatened to never end. She wept for a man and a relationship of which she had no memory. Carolyn folded the letter and placed it back into the crisp modern envelop. Carefully, she tucked it in between her mattress and boxspring where it was in easy reach. Excruciating headaches impaled her every time that she would try and remember the man. Finally, at 3 in the morning, grief gave way to sleep. Clutching the pea jacket close to her chest, Carolyn drifted off into a fitful sleep.

—

Coming across more lead crystal, Captain Gregg continued his assault on the mirrored portal. Firing one piece after another, he chipped away at his inanimate adversary who had a history of stout resistance.

"Come… on… you… blasted… thing!" The seaman grew more determined as each fragment fell.

A multitude of broken crystal shards lay on the dresser and floor. Under his boot, Daniel could feel the crystal pieces grinding against the wood floor as he stepped over to inspect the mirror. The accumulation on the floor was impressive and he tried to imagine what his wife would think of this pile of shimmering debris. With one hand leaning on the bureau and the other on his hip, he had to release an awkward chuckle. Carolyn would probably have given him a lecture on accidents and the fact that this was far beyond any accidental breakage. Lecture or not, the seaman simply didn't care. At this moment, just to hear her voice or to touch her hand would mean the world to him. Shuffling the clear pieces of rubble using his boot, Daniel Gregg felt as shattered as the crystal remains around his feet.

With a wry face, he summoned a broom and swept the fragments off to one side.

—

Carolyn slept a full 12 hours. Much to her family's relief, she came downstairs to eat. Martha would have preferred to feed the woman in bed, but Carolyn wanted to watch the kids play around the Christmas tree. The warmth of the fireplace and the sparkle of the tree helped the woman to find a small sense of peace in her corroding world.

Sipping a cup of soup, Carolyn turned her head at the alert of the phone ring. Martha picked up the call and the expectant mother returned to watching her children. Carolyn knew better than to arise and answer the ring while Martha was on adult babysitting duty. With her eaves-dropping skills near perfection levels, she strained to hear what her housekeeper was saying. The call ended too quick and Carolyn abandoned her efforts.

"Mrs. Muir? That was your mother. With the snowstorm that is battering Pennsylvania, she doesn't think that they can make it up for Christmas. She asked that you call her back when you're feeling better."

"Oh, no, Martha! The kids and I were so looking forward to their coming this year. They'll be so sad." Carolyn sank back on the sofa, disappointment adorning her countenance.

"At least we know that we'll have enough food, Mrs. Muir. Ed and Claymore will be grateful for any extra helpings that they can get." Martha was mentally poking around with a blunt stick looking for a bright side.

"I suppose." Carolyn sulked and considered giving out invites to her own pity party.

"It's okay, Mom. We can still have a great Christmas! Maybe they can come up after New Years?" Candy so wanted to cheer her mother up. Her mother seemed tired so much of the time.

"Maybe you're right, Candy. Thanks, Honey." She gave her daughter a hug.

Martha wanted to help, too. "Say, Mrs. Muir. Now that you have eaten, how about I draw you a nice soothing bath? I can put in those bath beads that you like so much."

"That does sound nice, Martha. Thank you." Carolyn was nursing her second cup of tea and feeling less sour.

—

Later that Christmas Eve night, everyone had gone to bed except Carolyn. She sat in front of the fireplace and tree, staring at the portrait of the man she was unable to remember. Knowing that her deceased husband was invisibly near, she kept silent.

"Do you feel any better, Cari? You looked pretty awful this afternoon." Bobby materialized and floated close to the subtly bright tree.

"Thanks, Bobby," Carolyn said dryly and picked her teeth.

"Come over here and sit by me, Cari," the Muir ghost patted the sofa cushion next to him wearing a sly grin.

"What? Why?" Carolyn coiled herself closer up into her chair.

"Cari, it's Christmas Eve and I just want to be close to you. I won't try anything, I promise. I want to talk about when to tell Candy and Jonathan about me."

'_This ghost is crazy! The absolute nerve!_' Carolyn thought to herself. "Robert Muir! We can't tell the kids about you, it will scare them to death!"

"Sure, we can, Cari. I'll be gentle. It won't be scary." He intently tried to coerce her.

"Absolutely not, Bobby! Forget it! I'm going to bed now." Carolyn scurried up the stairs and to her bedroom, not even stopping to brush her teeth. She was greatly frightened for herself and her children. Bringing the pea jacket to bed with her, Carolyn slept with a nightlight on.

"You should really do what I want, Cari," his ghostly face turned to a scowl. Bobby Muir's 'ghost speak' to Carolyn resumed that night.

_'Carolyn Muir. You are my wife. I am your husband. Candy, Jonathan, you and I are a family. You will succumb to my wishes. Carolyn Muir. You are my wife. I am your husband. Candy, Jonathan, you and I are a family. You will succumb to my wishes…..'_

—-

General Ito's Samurai army kept busy collecting the black veil spirits along with setting imprisoned spirits free from their confinement chambers.

"General, we are not finding any direct power source to the prison containers. The war axes are having the most damaging affect, but we have not been successful in locating Captain Gregg."

It was a setback, to be sure, but Ito considered it to be temporary.

"As for the containers, they are probably drawing power from the spirit realm itself. Now, as for the captain, continue your search. He is here! I am certain of it!"

Breaking through the ranks of troops, a young woman spirit was on the move in fervor search. Nurse Vivian Milner had seen Captain Gregg being taken away down a separate corridor. She herself had been imprisoned but was now free.

Being Samurai, not much, if anything could escape Ito's notice. It even proved to make him a better poker player. The American nurse fell into his sights. All that he needed to know was said in her actions.

"If you know where Gregg is, take us there!" He appeared by her side. The startled nurse recognized the Asian general from the wedding.

"I-I'm not sure, but I think that it's somewhere this way." Vivian disappeared down a corridor.

Signaling some nearby warriors to join him, the general pursued the spirit nurse.

—

December 25, 1971

Candy and Jonathan were up early, of course, being Christmas Day. The sound of tearing wrapping paper overflowed from the cozy parlor.

"It's the train! The model train from the store, Candy!" Jonathan ripped open the box, pulling the locomotive out. "Wow! Here's the ship, too!"

"Great, Jonathan. I got my Chrissy and Velvet dolls!" Turning a knob on the back, Candy alternately, lengthened and shortened the hair of her dolls. Using a small plastic brush, she smiled and brushed the hair.

Under the cloak of dematerialization, the children's father quietly sat among them. His expressions varied from ones of joy to others of disdain as Bobby recalled Carolyn's refusal to acknowledge his existence to the children.

_'It would serve her right if I just materialized in front of the children right now! Carolyn can't keep me from my own kids!' _The ghost scrounged for reasons to justify his predetermined course of action.

On alert, Scruffy began to bark and hold up a single paw. Instantly, Carolyn knew what the terrier was trying to say.

"Candy. Jonathan. Let's take a break from presents and go get some breakfast. Now!" Carolyn's heart was racing. Her breathing grew rapid knowing Bobby was near.

"Mommmm!" The protesting was underway. More mumbling of complaints could barely be heard.

"In the kitchen, kids. Now!" She herded her children to a safer pasture. "You too, Scruffy." Obediently, he followed the family into the adjoining room.

Being almost done, Martha was just putting the juice and milk on the breakfast table.

Gripping hard to the back of her chair, Carolyn's knuckles were turning pale. Spotting the juice, she gulped it down her parched throat.

Looking at her dog, he cocked his head to one side and gave her a whimper.

Disaster averted, Carolyn eased herself down into the chair at the table. Taking a few deep breaths, she focused on her family. "Martha? After Christmas dinner, I would like to speak with you privately."

"Certainly, Mrs. Muir." The cook-housekeeper wondered if she had done or said something that offended her employer, but it was neither. If Martha had known about their uninvited guest, her worry would have gone in a completely different direction.

—-

After a wonderful Christmas dinner, Carolyn, Martha and Scruffy gathered into the station wagon. Ed Peavy and Claymore stayed with the kids. They played Claymore's favorite game of Monopoly. It was a Christmas treat for the penny pincher, knowing that the odds were in his favor to win.

"Where are we going, Mrs. Muir?" Martha inquired, looking around to the area outside of the car.

"Not far. If I'm right, Martha, you and I will have a lot to talk about." Carolyn put the car in gear and headed to the back barn of the Gull Cottage property.

"Why did we bring Scruffy?" Martha's second question.

"Just wait. I'll explain, soon." She placed her hand on Martha's arm in a calming manner. _'How _**_am_**_ I going to explain all of this?_' She thought.

Arriving at the large, tall barn, the two women and one dog exited the car. Ankle deep snow was of little concern. Going over to a side door, Carolyn unlocked it and they ventured inside.

"Oh my word!" Martha gasped when she saw the large gaff cutter sailboat. Everything else in the old barn paled by comparison.

"It **is** here!" Carolyn brought finger tips to her smiling lips and a spark lit up her eyes.

Cautiously ascending the ladder to board the craft, Carolyn jarred her funny bone. "Blast!" Rubbing her elbow, she wondered to herself, '_When did I start saying _**_that_**_?'_

"Be careful, Mrs. Muir!" Martha warned.

"Hand me Scruffy, Martha." The elbow was still sore.

Handing the dog up to her employer, a more puzzled Martha spoke.

"I don't understand this at all, Mrs. Muir. You knew the boat was here, didn't you." Martha enjoyed mysteries as long as they stayed in books.

"Yes. I suspected that it was, Martha." Carolyn started to look around the sailing craft. It seemed familiar to her as she slid her hand over the wood deck. A vision came before her inner sight. A night sky. Carolyn was sharing a lounge chair with someone. Her head laying against a man's bare chest with his arms closed around her. It felt as real as the pain creeping into her head. Forcing herself to refocus, Carolyn had to pull away from the mysterious vision. The pain subsided and a voice grasped for her attention.

"What are you looking for Mrs. Muir?" Martha quizzed.

"I-I don't know, Martha, but I think that I will once I find it." Carolyn was moving items around rather noisily.

'_If I don't get up there and help, who knows how long she'll be out here._' Hesitantly, the dedicated housekeeper made her way up the ladder and onto the cutter. It was a comedy of errors as the poor woman tore her dress.

"I'll take this end, Martha, if you can search that end." Carolyn momentarily forgot about the ghost in her home and became excited over what she could find on this boat. Obviously, from the letter this sailboat had a history for her and the unknown captain. A history that she would give almost anything to find out.

"I think that I found what you're looking for, Mrs. Muir." An unsteady Martha had to find a seat.

Carolyn came over and sat down by her friend. The woman made a major discovery under some floor boards. More tears rolled down Carolyn's frosty red cheeks. In front of them sat 2 brief cases full of cash, one title to the sailboat and one modern marriage license for T. Daniel and Carolyn Gregg.

"Do you mind telling me what on earth is going on, Mrs. Muir?" For the housekeeper this was getting more complex than any soap opera on the television. Martha waited on bated breath to hear the answer.

"As best as I can, Martha. As best as I can." Carolyn wiped her tears away and poked around in her pocket for a tissue.

The two women sat on the boat for well over an hour as Carolyn explained everything to Martha. She told her about Bobby Muir's ghost, the tan lines, the pea jacket, the memory loss, the headaches, the young girl that pulled her into a closet and lastly, showed her the letter that Daniel wrote. Carolyn's tears began to run down her face once more.

"This is absolutely unbelievable, Mrs. Muir! I wouldn't have believed if I hadn't seen it for myself." Martha gave her back the letter. "What does Scruffy have to do with any of this?"

"Scruff knows when Bobby is around. He barks and raises his paw." Now Carolyn giggled at her dog. "Good boy, Scruffy."

"Now what do we do, Mrs. Muir… Mrs. Gregg?" Martha was shaking her head at the mistake. "We've all been living a lie for over a month, now?"

"I don't know, Martha, but I need you to hide the letter for me. I can't risk Bobby finding it. Have me read the letter every day, so I don't forget."

"I can do that, Mrs. Muir. What about the money?" Martha questioned.

"I'll take several hundred dollars back up to the house with me. I can't risk Bobby finding the money, either. We'll leave the rest locked up here for now. I wish that I knew what happened to Captain Gregg, though." Carolyn hung her head. Martha gave her friend a bear hug.

"Martha? I think that I can buy you a dress now to replace the one that tore." Carolyn produced a half chuckle.

—-

At the end of the corridor, everyone stopped. No door was visible, only walls.

"I-I thought that it was down here," Vivian turned in circles.

"Hmmm… Best place to hide door? In plain sight!" General Ito stepped through the wall that was an optical illusion. Behind the wall was a true door. The group found the door unguarded as well as unlocked. All filed in, including the horse. The 'mirror dimension' room was an unexpected shock. Those that had entered saw their individual lives echoed in the mirrors, all displaying different scenarios. They were transfixed by what they were seeing. No one moved.

—-

December 27, 1971

Martha Grant deliberately let Carolyn sleep later than usual. Feeding and taking care of the children would give her employer some needed rest. To Martha, with each day that passed, Carolyn Muir was looking more tired and distressed. Secretly, she wondered if Bobby Muir had anything to do with it.

Carolyn didn't have to wonder, she knew. She realized that her deteriorating condition had something to do with her deceased husband.

Checking into the hospital would do her no benefit. He would only follow her there. She considered trying to be nicer to him. Maybe that would placate the ghost. Something had to be done. Carolyn was hanging on by a thread.

—

"Is Captain Gregg in one of these mirrors?" Vivian was still mesmerized by the different images that flashed within her view.

"Do not look into the mirrors!" General Ito shouted. "Shield your eyes and watch the floor!"

The group moved with slow deliberate steps, seeing nothing but the floor. Goliath was poised in front of one particular mirror. Using his spirit shriek, the horse called out to his rider.

Sitting on the bed, Captain Gregg shot a look at the mirrored portal. Several pieces were missing from his barrage of lead crystal assaults. Now, the ghost captain wondered if he was hearing things that weren't there. The shriek was heard again.

"Goliath? **Goliath!**" He shouted in return. "Here! In here!"

The seaman was able to put his hand through one of the damaged areas of the mirror. It was met with a horse nose.

"Goliath, my friend. Get help!"

"Help is here, friend." Ito shook the hand that protruded from the portal.

"Ito! Is that you?" A trace of hope flooded the ghost captain.

"Hi!" The general was thankful to find his poker partner. "How do we get you out, Captain?"

"As you have seen, I am unable to escape from this side, but I have managed to weaken the barrier. Perhaps a grappling hook and rope may help."

Relaying the orders in Japanese, two warriors nodded and hurried from the room.

"Captain Gregg! It's me, Vivian Milner!"

"Nurse Milner? What are you doing here?" The captain shook his head. He could almost guess.

"I was captured when the black veil group descended on your home. They almost memory wiped Kevin and General Milner, but I popped them away before it could happen. Actually, Captain Gregg, they memory-wiped nearly everyone in the area and more."

Daniel Gregg spoke no words, but his heart sank like an anchor. The urgency to get home just greatly increased.

The two warriors returned with one grappling hook that had an attached thick rope.

"We have it, Captain!"

"Good. Now, maneuver the hook through the hole."

Breaking down the drawers of the dresser, Captain Gregg made a cross brace with the fronts that spanned the width of the mirrored portal. Seeing the hook come through, he anchored the barbs into the center of the brace and wedged it to the mirror.

"Wrap the rope around Goliath and have him pull as hard as he can." Daniel readied the last pieces of crystal that he had.

"Ready, Captain!"

"Goliath, pull!" The ghost horse pulled and shrieked. "Harder, Goliath!" The captain was bombarding the portal with the lead crystal. The mirror began to flex. "Goliath! Harder!" More shrieking poured out from the horse as his muscles flexed and bulged.

The last piece that Daniel hurled was the Waterford Crystal punch bowl that he had given Carolyn when he had mistakenly thought that she was marrying another man. The sound of the impact that it made was most gratifying.

All at once the mirrored portal shattered! Shards exploded on both sides and Daniel saw his chance for freedom. Flying through, he was a ghost escaping an eternal prison sentence.

Vivian grabbed his forearm. "You have to leave, Captain Gregg! Go! Your wife needs you!"

"Agreed!" he snapped and climbed atop his horse, removing the excess ropes. "Follow me, General!"

—-

Current day and time

New Years Day 1:00 AM

"Happy New Year to you too, Bobby. It's late. I think that I should go to sleep, now."

"You probably should, Cari. You look like you could use the rest," he chortled.

An icy shiver came over Carolyn as she turned off the lights to the Christmas tree and made her way up the dark staircase. Heading to the bathroom, she brushed her teeth. Upon entering the bedroom, Carolyn could hear the cold winter wind beat upon the balcony doors and windows. The sound added more anxiety to her already fearful thoughts. Pulling back the bed clothes, she climbed inside. The last thing to do was to turn off the light. Bracing herself, she did so, falling into a deep, unnatural sleep.

"Soon, you will be all mine, Cari," a disembodied voice whispered.

—

The beckoning of an ancient horn sounded as Daniel Gregg and General Ito emerged from the caverns on horseback. The call was for all available warriors to follow. Hundreds of hoofbeats pounded the dust embedded ground.

"We must make haste to Gull Cottage, General! I fear that my wife and family are in grave danger!" His face produced a look of strained conflict. "Take out as many of the black veils as you can. Just remember one thing, General." Captain Gregg's words took on a menacing edge.

"What is that, Captain?" Ito asked.

"Muir… is… mine." Daniel's baritone voice deepened another octave. Eyes turning to flame, Daniel pulled out ahead of the army with a shout to Goliath. "Hyah! Go!"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Insidiously, the ghost of Bobby Muir moved in on Carolyn's bed.

"You can't hold out much longer… Cari." His voice drew smooth as velvet.

Carolyn jerked in her sleep.

"You know that you can't win against me. I'll outlast you, every… time…"

Her body twisted and rolled violently, subconsciously seeking to elude the predator. Beads of sweat wet her brow threatening to run down the length of her face.

The Muir spirit hovered directly above Carolyn, only inches away, poised to devour the woman.

—-

Gull Cottage was almost… within… reach, just… above… the… cliff. Making himself ready, Daniel Gregg vaulted from his horse at the right moment to invisibly propel through the balcony doors. He witnessed, first hand, what had been taking place in his absence.

Bobby Muir was positioned over the seaman's wife. His 'ghost whisper' penetrating the depths of her psyche, layer by layer, with manipulating tendrils of command. Fighting the unseen war against him with all of her strength, Carolyn's face lost color, slipping to a pale shade of gray. Muir's voice had an unyielding death-like grip on her will… where escape had been mercilessly snatched from her grasp.

_'_**_Carolyn Muir_**_. _**_You _**_are _**_my_**_ wife. _**_I _**_am _**_your_**_ husband. Candy, Jonathan, _**_you_**_ and _**_I _**_are a family. _**_You will succumb to my wishes…_**

_—-_

Words such as rage and fury fell vastly short of what Daniel was experiencing. To be fair, there were no accurate words to describe what he was feeling, to see what his wife and unborn child were going through.

The Muir ghost never saw the enraged captain coming, it all happened so fast. Large hands found their way around his neck as he was being struck with a speed and strength that shot both back into the spirit realm. Not losing his lock on the ghost's throat, the two tumbled from the strong inertia and rebounded back onto the earth in downtown Schooner Bay. Landing atop the Muir ghost, Daniel Gregg's hands closed tighter around the spirit's neck. A forced separation of the head was his intent, thus ending Muir's existence.

"I will rid all worlds and realms of your presence…." he seethed through gritted teeth.

A troop of Samurai warriors materialized behind him. They attempted to peel the seaman from his grip on Muir, but he would not release his hold. It took 5 robust warriors to finally pull him off.

"Gregg! You cannot destroy this ghost. We need answers and his spirit intact!" General Ito implored.

Vivian made a quick appearance.

"Captain Gregg! Your wife needs you now!"

"Carolyn…!"

—

Instantaneously, Daniel Gregg materialized in the master cabin. Taking his pale wife into his arms, he passed all of his strength over to her. General Ito entered the room and placed a hand on the seaman's shoulder. Much to Daniel's surprise, Ito was able to pass his own strength over to the ship captain. The Asian general gave him a nod and vanished. Color returned to Carolyn's face. She was showing signs of recovery. Sitting next to the bed, Daniel took first watch over his wife as she slept. Actually, the seaman took all of the watches over his sleeping wife for the entire night, never moving out of sight.

—-

Morning sunlight spilled through the balcony doors and windows. Captain Gregg was poised at his binnacle. Not quite sure what to expect when his wife awoke, the spirit kept a non-threatening distance. He required patience while waiting for Carolyn to awaken. A ticking clock in background further agonized his wait. Such a simple thing became unnerving. Hoping for a distraction from the tension, Daniel would peer through his telescope at an empty sea, then back at his wife. This was repeated several times.

Carolyn Gregg shifted in her bed. Even before opening her eyes, she knew that a bath would be in order. Turning over to the other side, she gave herself 10 more minutes and would then set out to start the day. Her wide sleepy yawn traversed the room as she settled back into the comfy pillow.

The 10 minutes went by too quickly she decided, opening her eyes. To Carolyn's amazement she felt… good. Maybe she was lucky last night and Bobby failed to make an appearance. Whatever the reason, she was grateful for the reprieve. Rising from the bed with hands toward the ceiling, she stretched stiff muscles.

Her hand gave a small massage to the child growing in her womb. "How are you, today?"

Softly, Captain Gregg addressed his wife, "Carolyn."

The mother-to-be jumped at the unexpected voice. Slowly, she turned to face the origin.

"It-it's you! Y-you're Captain Gregg." Her knees giving way, she sank to the floor.

Daniel came down to her level but stayed several feet away, still sailing on uncharted waters.

"Yes, but do you know who I am to you, Carolyn…?" Daniel had just noticed that his wife was spinning her previous wedding ring around her finger. The rings that he had given her were AWOL. Giving an empty stare to his own wedding ring, he held back the grief that threatened exposure.

"I-I know who you are… but… I-I don't remember who 'we' were. I **can't** remember who we were. I want to, but I can't. I'm sorry." Carolyn found the floor of strange interest to her and picked lint from a throw rug that lay next to the bed. She needed to refocus her thoughts or her struggling memory may try to recall the seaman. Unimaginable pain would be the result.

"I see. It is not your fault. I know that your deceased husband has been harassing you. He will… no longer bother you."

The seaman's wife ceased her lint collecting. "Did you take care of Bobby?" A few tears of relief fell down her face.

"He has been apprehended. Is that what you wanted?" Daniel tugged his ear.

"Yes! Thank you! He was doing more than harassing me. He… was trying to brain-wash me, I think. Bobby eliminated parts of my memory and wanted his family back, he said."

Captain Gregg felt ill in his gut.

Nervous, Carolyn resumed picking at the rug and continued her thoughts. "You see…I think that Bobby is the reason why I can't remember you." The familiar pain started to creep into her head. She tried to focus on the piece of carpet clutched in her fingers.

"I understand," Daniel softly spoke, heart broken.

"No, no you don't!" Carolyn raised her hands to her head in agony. "I think that Bobby did something to me so…that if I try to remember you, I would get these excruciating headaches!" Unable to endure any longer, Carolyn struggled to her feet and stumbled from the room. Her vision doubled upon entering the hall. The pain was intolerable. Blindly shoving the door open, Carolyn dropped down and vomited into the commode.

"Carolyn!" The sea captain pursued his wife. Following her through the door of the bathroom, he kneeled down to move her hair back as she heaved.

"You have to leave, Captain! I can't take the pain of trying to remember you! I'm sorry!" She heaved with an empty stomach.

Unable to help his wife, Captain Gregg dematerialized and reappeared in the attic. His anger kindled as violent thunderclaps were produced overhead. _'What has he done to her?!'_

_—_

Carolyn lay on the bathroom floor. Gradually, her pain and nausea subsided. Opening eyes to the ceiling, all appeared in single focus.

Growing concerned, Martha knocked on the door. "Is everything alright, Mrs. Muir?"

"I'm going to take a bath, Martha. Can you bring me some tea and toast, please?

"I suppose that I can. I'll bring it up, shortly." The housekeeper returned to the kitchen to complete the request.

Shutting her eyes again, Carolyn Muir Gregg laid herself in the tub and ran the warm water. She felt more relaxed with each inch that the water rose.

"Mrs. Muir? I have your tea and toast."

"Just bring them in, Martha, thank you." Carolyn had added bubbles to her bath. "Martha, stay here. I need to talk with you."

With a guarded appearance, Martha sat down. "Now what's happened?"

"It's alright, Martha. Bobby is gone and Captain Gregg has returned."

"Do you mean to tell me that we traded one ghost for another? I hope that we got the better ghost of the two."

"I'm sure that we did, Martha. I still can't remember him, though. The headaches are still going on. I'm not sure what to do." Carolyn collapsed her hand through a fluffy pile of bubbles.

—-

Martha returned to her kitchen. There, she needed to prepare lunch for the family. Peaking over into the parlor, she saw the kids playing with their new toys. A voice came from behind her.

"Martha?"

She turned to see the ghost captain from the portrait. Being Martha, she fainted.

_'Blast!'_ Captain Gregg thought to himself. Getting a glass of water, he flicked droplets on the pale woman's face. "Martha. Wake up! Martha!"

The family housekeeper came around and found herself staring at the handsome sea captain.

"A-are you Captain Gregg?"

"Yes, but I don't suppose that you remember me, either?" His patience was wearing on the thin side, but he offered her a hand up.

"No, I don't, Captain Gregg." A perplexed Martha grasped his hand and rose to her feet. Brow furrowed, she silently contemplated making a run for the kids.

"No matter, for now. I have an idea, but I need for you to tell Carolyn what I am proposing and see if she agrees." Daniel began his habitual pacing.

"What **are** you proposing, Captain?" Martha picked up a pen and paper, but still eyed the ghost with caution.

"In your presence, Martha, I can put Carolyn into a deep sleep. Entering her mind, I may be able to possibly remove what the Muir spirit has done or at least have a better idea of what he did. She won't be awake and therefore won't try to remember me. It shouldn't cause her any pain or harm. Do you have any questions?"

She was still writing. "Sounds cut and dry to me, Captain. I'll talk with her after she finishes her bath and eats." The housekeeper silently questioned if she was still out cold and dreaming this whole scene up.

"Very good. Thank you, Martha." The captain bowed to her and vanished.

She placed the pen behind her ear and decided this was probably real.

—

Carolyn finished her bath, drank her tea and ate half of the toast. Coming down the stairs, she turned to go into the parlor. Carolyn stopped short after seeing Captain Gregg watching the children play.

Candy was unable to see the captain, but Jonathan spotted the seaman right away.

The young mother hid in the foyer to eavesdrop on the conversation.

"Hey, Dad! You're back! When did you get back? Thanks for finding Mom and bringing her home!" He came over to the seaman.

"Jonathan? Y-you remember me?" Daniel's emotions were rising to the surface, happy that the boy had not forgotten him.

"Sure I do! Why wouldn't I? You said that you were going away so that you could find Mom and bring her home, right?" Jonathan was a little confused by the question.

"Yes, that's right. I'm afraid know one else remembers, Lad." Captain Gregg opened his arms to the boy and they shared a hug.

Cupping her nose and mouth with her hands, Carolyn struggled to hold back the tears. Going into the kitchen, she volunteered to help Martha, hoping for a distraction from the seaman.

"There you are, Mrs. Muir. I need to speak with you about something."

"Go ahead, Martha. Oh, do you need any help in here?" Carolyn inquired.

"Do you want to stir the soup while I make us some salad?"

"Sure, Martha." Taking the old wooden spoon in hand, Carolyn turned her attention to the soup. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I spoke with Captain Gregg, Mrs. Muir." Carolyn came close to dropping the spoon. "He has an idea that he thinks may help you."

Martha carefully explained Daniel's idea. Carolyn paused her stirring and watched the soup simmer on the old black stove.

"Tell him, 'yes', Martha. I'm willing to try it." She swirled the spoon around the pot, watching noodles dance with the bubbles.

"Something tells me that he may already know, but I'll find out how he wants to go about this." After splitting the lettuce in half, the housekeeper paused. "Do you trust this ghost Captain, Mrs. Muir?" Martha began slicing a tomato.

"I do, Martha. I do."

Protectively eavesdropping himself, Daniel was relieved to hear of his wife's agreement to the idea. He also came to the conclusion that he would never tire of her saying 'I do', no matter what the circumstances. The words sparked something inside of the seaman that made his heart do cartwheels.

—-

After everyone finished the hot soup and salad lunch, Candy and Jonathan resumed their play in the parlor. It was time to play child surgeon in the game of 'Operation.' Carolyn and Martha proceeded upstairs to the master cabin.

"Captain Gregg instructed you to just lay down and relax. He can make you sleep while remaining invisible." Looking down at her employer, the woman was already sleeping.

Captain Gregg materialized by her side. Bringing a hand close to her face, he longed to stroke her cheek. Fighting the impulse, he withdrew his hand and winced. Standing beside her, he began to concentrate and entered into Carolyn's psyche. From previous knowledge, what he expected to encounter would be seen in the form of an allegory.

In her mind, he stood at the foot of a high hill. On the top, resided a fortified citadel. Thunder, lightning and an unrelenting rain encompassed the scene, emulating the storm in her troubled identity. Carolyn's voice reverberated her own silent questionings.

_'Who am I? Why can't I remember? What has happened to my life?'_

A stronghold of immense tangled briars stood between the husband and wife. Unsheathing a long doubled edged sword, Daniel unleashed his wrath on the twisted barricade that separated them. With every progressing slice from his blade, twice the briars grew back, creating a more dense thicket.

Menacing laughs from both men and women accompanied the growing briars, making mockery of the seaman's attempts. It reminded him of a movie that his wife had taken the children to see the previous year. Sleeping Beauty.

_'Indeed.' _He thought. _'My wife has truly fallen into a lost sleep.'_

_—-_

Removing himself from her being, Captain Gregg stood over his wife. Passing his hand over her face, he focused his thoughts.

"Well? Did it work?" Martha's words were accentuated with more of a demand than a question.

"No. What has been done is more complicated than a simple memory wipe. What I can do for now is to limit the amount of pain that she will experience if any memories should come to the surface. Now, if you will excuse me, I must look further into this matter."

The ghost captain vanished before Martha could respond.

—

Carolyn awoke peacefully from the sleep almost an hour later. Immediately, Martha explained what Captain Gregg had told her. Though disappointed, Carolyn encouraged herself that a solution could still be found. Giving it more thought, she decided to speak with her son, Jonathan.

—-

"So, Jonathan, you **do** remember Captain Gregg?" The mother fiddled with her long necklace, making loops and wraps around her finger. "What can you tell me about him?" She surprised herself by being excited to talk about the sea captain.

"Well, he loves you a whole lot!" Carolyn's unseen heart flipped upside-down. "He loves me and Candy, too! Maybe, even Martha! Gee, Mom. You really don't remember Dad?" The young boy grieved.

"I'm sorry, Jonathan. I wish that I could remember him. I really do."

"But, you guys got married, Mom! We flew down to that island where the cero… ceremo, where you gave each other rings. I held onto the ring that the captain gave you!" Tears were filling in Carolyn's eyes. "Then you went to other islands in a cool sailboat on your honeymoon. You even brought the sailboat home with you!" Now her son was getting excited at the recollection.

"It sounds wonderful, Jonathan." She sniffed and removed a stray tear with her finger. "I really wish that I could remember. I'm hoping that your captain can fix it." Carolyn held tight to the hope that the seaman would find a remedy.

"He's your captain, too, Mom!" A long pause was held as Jonathan studied the room. "Is it because of that other ghost that was here when the captain was gone?" Jonathan pined.

Carolyn was in shock when the icy chill passed through her. "Y-you knew about the other ghost, Jonathan?"

"Yeah. I saw him sometimes. He was kinda scary. I didn't want to talk to him. I think that he was the one that I saw at school."

"Jonathan, that ghost won't be coming back. Captain Gregg took care of him. Why don't you tell me more about the captain," she suggested, redirecting his thoughts.

The boy shrugged his shoulders. "Okay."

"Why did he leave in the first place, Jonathan? Do you know?" Carolyn probed.

"Yeah. He told me and Candy that he had to go on a journey to find you, so that you could come home. You fell asleep and couldn't wake up."

"I fell… asleep?" Carolyn questioned as her fingers recaptured the escaped necklace.

"It was some kind of bad sleep. Everybody was worried, Mom. Captain Gregg promised that he would bring you home, only… when you came home, he didn't come back. Then that other ghost came here instead."

Bringing her son in close for a hug, it became obvious that the boy had formed a strong bond to this captain.

Carolyn recalled the letter from Daniel indicating that possibly he was not able to return. A sadness enveloped her heart. _'He knew,' _she whispered to herself.

—

Returning to the black veil compound, Captain Gregg went looking for a certain ghost who seized his home and family. He was less than content. Just the opposite, in fact.

"Where are the prisoners?" He gruffly asked various Samurai warriors. Finger points were his answer.

General Ito was quick to intervene when he was informed that the captain was looking for Bobby Muir. Finding the seaman, he pulled the ghost aside.

"Why do you want to see this spirit? He just gets you very angry!" Ito pointed out.

"I'm already angry! I'm passed angry!" Daniel spewed. "He has done something to my wife so that she not only doesn't remember me, but it causes her great pain to even try!" His nostrils flared like a bull seeing red.

"This isn't good," Ito replied rubbing this chin. "We have been questioning as many prisoners as we can, Captain."

"Good. Let me question Muir. He owes me some answers!" Daniel shot.

Against better judgement, General Ito brought Bobby Muir into a room with the furious sea captain. A few warriors were present to keep things civil. Watching them bring the Muir ghost in, Daniel noticed that he wore the same restraining energy bands on his wrists that they used on him. The interrogation was under way.

"What did you do to my wife? What did you do to my family and town?" Daniel sneered.

"I did just what I said that I was going to do. Wipe away the memory of **you** from them!" The ghost said smugly.

"What did you do to Carolyn? Why does she experience pain when she tries to remember me?" Palms down, the ghost captain leaned on the table, taking space in the other spirit's personal bubble.

Muir smiled. "So you've figured that out. It's called a 'fail safe'." The arrogant spirit propped his feet on the table and sported a satisfied expression. "I look at it this way," now leaning closer to the captain, "If Carolyn still wouldn't take me back or you managed to escape, I needed a plan B. Now, if one ghost gave her the whisper for pain at your memory, it could probably be broken. But if a hundred gave her a ghost whisper for the pain, it can never be broken! You won't be able to have Carolyn, either! I win any way that you look at it, old sea dog!"

Fire reflected in his eyes and a thunderclap shook the room. In one startling move, Daniel Gregg lunged for the throat of Bobby Muir's ghost. This time, at all cost, he would not let go. Ito and the other Samurai warriors glared at one another and turned their backs.

—


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Returning home, Captain Gregg was mildly satisfied. Though he had not completely destroyed Muir's ghost, he had inflicted serious—if not permanent—damage. Flexing his fingers and examining the scuffed corporeal skin on his knuckles, he muttered to himself, _'worth it.'_

Unfortunately, this would not be of use to his wife, who still was unable to remember her husband.

Carolyn waited for Daniel in the master cabin, caressing her unborn child. Unexpectedly, she called for him.

"Captain Gregg? Daniel? Can you hear me?" She spun the old ring on her finger bravely hoping she knew who fathered her baby.

Daniel faithfully materialized at his binnacle. "Did you call me, madam?" He resorted back to addressing her in more formal terms. More uncharted waters made the seaman uncertain as to how she should be addressed.

Carolyn blinked at _his_ formality. _'Madam? Are't we married?' _She reasoned to herself.

"Captain… Daniel?" she responded.

He blinked at _her_ informality.

"I wanted to thank you for coming to my rescue, if I am correct?" Carolyn felt like she was half-guessing.

"Y-you're welcome… Madam." He bowed to his wife.

"Call me Carolyn, please."

"Then you should call me Daniel." He pulled on his ear.

"The baby is yours… Daniel?" Carolyn touched her protruding abdomen.

"Yes, the child is mine." As if on cue, the baby became very active at the sound of his voice.

"Oh my!" Carolyn placed her hand on the kicking child and sat down on their bed. "Come here, Daniel." She motioned him.

Walking over to her, she clasped his hand and pulled him down to sit on the bed with her. Taking his other hand, she guided it to her moving child.

"Do you feel that?" She bit at her bottom lip.

"I do indeed. I have felt our child kick and move many times. Each time it is a joy!" He smiled.

Carolyn smiled, too, placing her hand on his, causing a surge of warmth to flood her captain..

The smiles diminished as they gazed into each other's eyes. Their faces only inches apart. Daniel swallowed hard and Carolyn felt weak in the knees. Slowly yet deliberately, they moved closer, the touching of their lips was felt. Lightly, at first, a brushing you might say. She pressed her lips firmly against his. He responded with equal pressure to hers. Mouths opening, the kiss grew. Bringing his hand up to her face, he led her mouth deeper into his. He remembered her sweet taste. Carolyn's hand shifted over to her husband's chest. Unbuttoning his shirt, she slipped it inside. Upon finding a playground of soft curly hair, bit by bit, her hand explored every inch. Ripples of muscle became a walking map for her fingers. The captain's hands were busy with their own expedition of her hills and valleys. Carolyn trembled with joy at his touch. Passions on the rise, Daniel intermittently paused the kissing to do what would be deemed _gentlemanly_.

"Are you sure… that you want to do this… Carolyn?" he questioned softly while looking into her eyes for any nonverbal cues.

Breathing a small clipped sigh, her mouth closed in on his, speaking the magic words. _'I do,'_ she whispered before bringing his lips into willing captivity. In a soft low moan, ever increasing surges of warm took her seaman over and nearly pushed him off of the edge.

Metaphorically, Daniel raised a white flag of sweet surrender.

He motioned a finger to the bedroom door, causing the lock to engage. Candy, Jonathan, Martha, and even Scruffy were promptly overcome by the desire to indulge in a long nap.

With great care, he laid her back on their bed, unbuttoning her maternity blouse. Then, cupping her face with his hand, the deep, tender kissing resumed.

Memories or no memories, Daniel and Carolyn embraced the time to rediscover their lost intimacies. Carolyn Muir Greg was falling in love with her ghost captain all… over… again.

'_What a magnificent man,_' she thought to herself.

—

Some time later.

Carolyn rested her head on Daniel's chest. She twirled the curls of hair that lay under her fingers. Daniel still marveled that they were even intimate under such bizarre circumstances.

"Daniel?" She cooed.

"Yes, Darling?" He swept his fingertips over her bare shoulder and down her arm.

"I know that this must seem strange, when I don't have any memories of us, but I feel… _joined_… to you. I have **been** feeling _joined_ to you, and it's growing. First the portrait, then I came across your pea jacket." She began to choke as the thoughts returned to her. "I wore your jacket and even brought it to bed with me. It made me feel… safe." Carolyn felt like a silly teenager, behaving and admitting to something so peculiar.

"Blast!" Her benign expletive seemingly came from nowhere.

Daniel wasn't able to hold in the small chuckle of delight that erupted from the inside.

"When did I start using the word _blast_?" Carolyn half questioned.

In silent contemplation over his wife being trapped with her previous husband, Captain Gregg stared at the ceiling. Squeezing his eyes shut, brought tears to escape down the sides of his face. With the spirit of Bobby Muir in the house, his wife had been anything but safe.

Carolyn resumed. "I found your letter to me in the pocket. I think that I cried most of the night." A few of Carolyn's own tears were shed, falling down onto her husband. "On Christmas Day, Martha and I drove to the back barn. We found everything. The boat, the money, the title, and our marriage license. It was the best and worst Christmas. Such a mixture of thoughts and feelings, I wondered if I were losing my mind."

It was much too painful for her ghost husband to speak. In the absence of vocal words, his arms enfolded her closer, barely able to whisper the sentiment. _'I love you, Carolyn.'_

_'I love you, too, Daniel,' _her voice crackled.

Cradled in the arms of her husband, Carolyn fell into a natural sleep. She felt safe once more.

—

An hour later, she awoke to the faint sound of voices emitting from the down stairs. Martha and the kids were up from their nap. She would soon need to join them, but first Carolyn wanted to speak more with her husband who lay by her side.

"Daniel?" She snuggled closer to her captain.

He rolled to face his wife, seeing her look of bewilderment. "Yes, my love?"

"Since you're a ghost, Daniel, how **did** I conceive your child?"

"We have an incredibly special bond from the candles of our spirit wedding." He smiled at the fond recollection.

"What candles?" Carolyn asked thoughtfully.

Bringing himself up on his elbows, her captain pointed. "The ones on the dresser…?" Except for a vanity set and perfume bottles, the dresser top was bare. "Where are they? Where did they go?" He asked his wife.

"A set of three candles?" She responded meekly.

"Yes." His eyes opened wider.

"I told Martha to throw them out weeks ago. I honestly don't even know why I said it." Guilt clawed mercilessly at Carolyn's heart, demanding entrance.

Captain Gregg fell back flat on their bed. "Muir must have told you to do it when you were asleep." With both hands, Daniel covered his face.

"They were important, weren't they, Daniel? I-I'm sorry." Carolyn watched for his forgiveness, but the guilt clawed its way deeper.

Daniel turned to face her again. "They were, but it is not your fault, Dear. Perhaps tomorrow I can search for them." The seaman searched for a thread of hope to hold onto.

"At the dump?" She imagined him sorting through mountains of trash. Her guilt was busy erecting a foundation inside of her heart. '_Could I feel any worse_?'

"Yes, at the dump." He confirmed, kissing her hand.

Laying her head back on his chest, she cuddled closer to her husband. "Now, what do we do, Daniel? I still have no memories of us." Carolyn had her own _mountain of trash_ that Bobby had dumped in her mind.

Face to face with the brutal truth of their forced alienation, Daniel lamented over the loss. "We start over, Darling. We start… over."

Picking up Carolyn's left hand, Daniel frowned at the Muir ring on her finger, freeing a heavy mock sigh that he had repressed. Pulling her hand back, she yanked off the old ring and threw it across the room. An obvious display of disdain for her former commitment.

"We can begin with purchasing you new wedding rings. You can have anything that you want," her captain addressed behind sad blue eyes.

Tear drops ran down Carolyn's cheeks mixing with her lengthening blond hair.

Using his thumbs, Captain Gregg delicately wiped away her guilt-ridden tears. "It is not your fault, my love. This blame does not belong to you. We will work through this as we do all things." He managed a small smile to offer her paired with an embrace. Carolyn clung tightly to her husband, continuing to sob.

—

Materializing at the county dump the following morning, Captain Gregg viewed the multiplying mounds of refuse. The sight was more loathsome than he had anticipated, but the need to search for the missing wedding candles was far greater than the stench. He held hope that the candles may assist in unlocking the elusive lost memories. Snow blanketed the area from the previous night. Sweeping his hand to and fro, he removed as much of the frozen precipitation as possible. Using his spirit powers, he levitated items around. The onslaught of the combined foul odors repulsed him and grew worse with each fresh mound. After 3 hours of searching, the only thing that he found was indeed…garbage. Digesting the defeat, he returned to Gull Cottage and willed himself to be clean.

Seeing her husband's disappointment, Carolyn had little doubt that he had been unsuccessful at finding the unintentionally discarded candles.

"I'm sorry, Daniel," she consoled.

"No matter, my dear. Why don't we look for new rings today." He tugged on a shirt cuff and veered away from the distressing topic. "We can go to Boston where the selection will be better. Let me know if you start to experience any pain from past memories."

With the children returning to school, the idea was both feasible and pleasant. Daniel transported the brief cases of cash back into the house and prepared his wallet. Putting on their winter coats, the couple made ready to leave.

Quite unexpectedly, an appearance was made by the Samurai general. A startled Carolyn Gregg was close to releasing a scream.

"It's alright, dear. He is a friend." Daniel turned to greet the Japanese spirit. "What can I do for you, General Ito?" He gave a bow.

Ito gave a bow in return. "Captain Gregg, I need to speak with General Milner. It is important. You should hear this, too."

"Carolyn and I were just going to Boston. We have decided to start over, together." He placed her hand in the crook of his elbow, bringing about a cheek flush to the expectant mother.

"This is good news, Captain." The general offered his bow to the ghost captain's wife. "However, we should address this matter, first. It is important. Bring your wife along." The ghost general made a mental note to invite the seaman by for saké. If all went well, he may even venture to ask the captain how the spirit could have fathered a child.

"Very well, General. Is this acceptable to you, Darling?" He inquired.

"It's fine, Daniel." She felt a bit awkward not knowing who this Japanese man was.

Making a quick call to General Milner, Daniel arranged for an impromptu meeting.

"Let us be off, then." Taking Carolyn by the hand, the couple lead the way via ghost travel. It was not long before they arrived at their destination, Fort Devons.

_'Do we always travel this way?' _Carolyn thought to herself.

—-

Privately, the trio met with the military general.

"Is Nurse Vivian back, General?" Daniel inquired.

"Yes, and thanks to her quick thinking, Kevin and I were not part of the memory wipe. Her capture was very rough on him."

"I completely understand, General." The Captain gave his wife's hand a squeeze.

"General Milner. My officers and I have interrogated most of the black veil group that we have captured." Ito shook his head in disgust and adjusted his Samurai armor. "This group is about much more than breaking up ghost-human couples. This group is out for _vengeance_."

Faces turned to glance at one another.

"What kind of vengeance, General Ito?" Milner's face grimaced as he leaned in closer to his Japanese counterpart.

"Any kind, General Milner. The human-ghost relationships were only a part of many other plots of vengeance. All of the spirits that we spoke with desired revenge on others known from their earthly lives."

Carolyn felt a shiver inside. Seeing her sudden discomfort, Daniel draped an arm around his wife.

Ito continued. "This group is comprised of spirits who all seek some kind of revenge. They work together as a whole to execute the desires of each individual spirit. We have over 200 spirits in custody from this _demented _organization."

"What does that mean, General Ito?" Milner was seeking the end result and not the details of how or why.

Daniel Gregg understood the implications. "Blast!" Coming to his feet, the ghost began to pace the office.

"What it means, General, is that there are an unknown number of lives that may have been changed, permanently, due to spirit vengeance. Like Carolyn and I have been impacted, others have probably been impacted as well. Not just individual lives, General, but possibly entire governments and nations may have been changed in the name of spirits not receiving what they believe they deserved.

Ito nodded in agreement. "He speaks the truth."

"How do we know what's been done?" Milner asked.

"We don't, General, unless the black veils tells us, we won't know." Captain Gregg continued to pace.

"For now, my officers and I will work to coerce the group into giving us more information. I should get back." General Ito took a pocket watch out of his coat and viewed the face of the timepiece.

The sea captain eyed the pocket watch. "Is that **my** old pocket watch, Ito?"

Ito grinned. "Hai. You lost in poker game, Captain. Keeps good time." The Japanese general vanished.

Carolyn tried to cover her smirk with a hand.

"We shall go too, Darling. General Milner, let us be in touch." The couple vanished as well.

—

Discreetly materializing behind an office building in Boston, Daniel and Carolyn planned an investigation of their own, of a different sort, starting with a meal.

"What would you like for lunch, Dear?"

"Anything but street vendor food," she responded.

The two found a nice, casual Italian restaurant where a gas fireplace was radiating heat in the center, creating a cozy atmosphere.

Carolyn was watching her seaman as he was watching her, too.

"Tell me about the rings that I had, Daniel. How did you propose? Tell me about our wedding, too." Carolyn searched his eyes.

The questions and requests mildly unnerved the sea captain.

Taking a sip of wine he began, "You must tell me if anything causes you pain, Carolyn. Do you agree?"

"Believe me, Daniel, you'll know if I'm in pain."

"We had two weddings, Carolyn. The first wedding was held in a country church by a spirit Pastor. We wrote our own vows to one another. Our candles had been a special segment of the ceremony imparting a unique unification of our hearts, souls and spirits. I proposed to you on the beach at Gull Cottage, where we have walked many times together."

"The ring was custom made using an antique gold setting that contained an emerald on each side off of the center. I had a round cut solitaire diamond mounted in the middle prongs. It was accompanied by a gold band." He watched her face for any signs of pain.

"Our second wedding was held in a historic church in San Juan, Puerto Rico just a short time ago. This is the one that you found the license for on our boat. Friends and family attended. I gave you a second gold band with an inscription inside, our names and the town. You found a local hand made Spanish style gown. The sight of you coming down the stairs was like that of an angel." Daniel relived the moments in his mind.

Carolyn's eyes brimmed with tears that spilled over into the napkin laying in her lap.

"I'm guessing that would explain my tan lines." She dotted her eyes with the napkin. "I want to find rings as close to that as we can." Carolyn paused as another thought occurred to her. "Daniel, I don't even know what happened to the rings that you gave me. I can't recall seeing them."

"It would not be surprising to discover that your ex husband had something to do with their disappearance." He scowled, taking a larger sip of wine and drawing his fingers into a fist.

Carolyn's light strokes to Daniel's hand brought him back into a state of ease.

—-

Browsing through the jewelry stores of Boston, nothing came close to the ring set that Daniel had made. Everything seen in the display cases boasted modern design. '_Are you sure that I can't interest you in the latest_ _style of wedding rings?'_ A question that had been proposed to the couple for much of the afternoon.

Considering their options and alternatives, Daniel suggested finding an estate antique jewelry store. One such store resided in an older part of town, where Carolyn found a lovely antique gold band laced with small emeralds that were bezel set half way around.

"I love this one, Daniel! It seems to fit me, too!" Carolyn held the ring up allowing for rays of sunshine to pass through. Soft green reflections danced on the white store wall, much to her delectation.

"Then you shall have it, my love." Her husband paid cash for the ring.

Carolyn unashamedly wore the gold band out of the store, frequently casting eyes on the shimmering green emeralds.

"What about the engagement ring, Carolyn?"

"It can wait, Daniel. This wedding band tells everyone that I'm your wife."

Hooking arms with his wife, he leaned down and stole an unanticipated kiss from her more-than-willing lips.

Though happy to be reunited, Daniel and Carolyn were each experiencing the pangs associated with grief. Carolyn grieved for the life with her husband that was never lived, according to her memory. Daniel grieved for memories built with Carolyn over the last few years that in her present mind, never existed. Each were touched by the loss and would need to adjust in order to ride out the storm of 'starting over.'

—

The couple returned to Gull Cottage in a pop. With her husband's presence still unknown to Candy, the seaman remained invisible .

"Mrs. Gregg. While you were out, the photography studio called. They said that the proofs from your wedding in San Juan came in. It seems that they were misplaced in customs. You can pick them up for viewing any time." With a broad smile, Martha's excitement took a contagious turn. "I can't wait to see them myself!"

"Oh, Martha! That's wonderful! We can pick them up, tomorrow. Daniel and Jonathan can tell us about them!" This would take some getting used to. Living something, but having no recollection of it.

After hanging her coat and scarf on the hall tree, Carolyn removed her shoes. Looking down, she knew exactly why her feet hurt. They had swelled from the pregnancy. She was well into her seventh month. Soon, her feet would disappear from sight altogether. Heading to the master cabin, it was time to put her swollen extremities up. Daniel met her there. Taking her feet into his hands, the seaman massaged her tired soles.

Closing her eyes to take 20 winks, Carolyn turned her thoughts in a different direction.

_'How do you tell your daughter that she and the whole family have been living a lie and that the lie was still alive.' _Carolyn wondered to herself. It seemed like such a monumental task to undertake, but her and Daniel agreed that Candy deserved to know the truth.

—-


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

A ping in the background of the master cabin indicated 7 PM on a ship's clock. Positioning herself against 2 pillows on the bed, Carolyn mentally prepared to speak with her daughter, Candy. It was going to be a challenge explaining to the girl how the previous 2 months of their lives had been a lie. Shifting on the bed, Carolyn carefully, explained much of the situation, leaving out certain details, such as the girl's biological father's ghost. Daniel invisibly stood by his binnacle waiting to make his debut to the girl.

"You can't be serious, Mom. Is this a joke?" Candy's mental digestion was suffering from indigestion.

Carolyn kept her voice to a minimal level. "It's true, Candy. All of it's been a lie. Captain Gregg and I have been married for months. For some reason Jonathan's memory is the only one that wasn't affected by these spirits."

"So you're believing Jonathan's fantasies now?! This is crazy, Mom! Candy's voice grew louder with each word.

"I am not an illusion or a fantasy, Candy dear." Captain Gregg materialized walking over to his wife, he took her hand. Carolyn felt the ball of tension in her shoulders start to unwind.

Inhaling a sharp breath and edging away, Candy Muir was in stunned silence.

"It's alright, Candy." Carolyn placed her hand over her daughter's hand. The two met eye to eye.

"This can't be real!" She squeaked and stiffened her back.

A wandering Jonathan overheard his family conversing in the bedroom.

Entering the room, he had hopes that a game of some kind would be on the horizon.

"Hi, Mom and Dad. Hi Candy. Wanna play a game?" he innocently asked.

"Dad?! You're calling a ghost our dad?!" Candy slammed.

"He _is_ our dad, Candy. It was your idea to call him _Dad_. Why can't you remember? Why can't anyone remember?" Jonathan tossed his hands in the air before they came to rest on his waist mimicking the seaman.

"He's not our dad, Jonathan!" The girl locked her jaw and balled her small fists.

"Candy…" Carolyn reached out to the girl, but she pulled away.

"You're not my dad!" Candy hedged glaring at the spirit. Turning, she ran from the room.

"We need to give Candy some time, darling. This can't be easy for her." Sitting next to his wife on the bed, Daniel reached over and took Carolyn's limp hand. Slumping her shoulders, it was easy to see that she was emotionally drained.

"Can you blame her? We just informed her that the world she knew wasn't real," Carolyn spoke in a monotone voice and sank deeper into the pillows. In a blank stare, she restlessly tugged on the fringe of a throw blanket on the bed. _'Blast!'_

"I will make another attempt to locate our wedding candles in the morning. There must be a way to restore the lost memories!" Captain Gregg started to rise from the bed, but Carolyn caught his arm causing him to remain seated next to her. Silently, she leaned into the husband. Strong arms found their way around her shoulders. Shutting her eyes, Carolyn Gregg was ready for this day to end.

—-

Early the following morning a preoccupied Captain Gregg was rummaging through trash at the city dump. With ghostly tenacity, he moved things piece by piece from one pile to another, over and over, hoping to find the lost candles.

Garbage, stench and broken items became the seaman's bounty. Another 3 hour hunt brought him home empty handed, again. Willing himself to be clean, Daniel arrived at what would seem to be a logical conclusion. Someone must have found the candles and kept them. The captain might be able to get them replaced, but their power may be negated, not being from the original ceremony. Although disheartened, the ghost knew that it was time to put the matter behind them and move on. Chin up and chest out, he and Carolyn proceeded to town.

The time was better spent on picking up the wedding picture proofs from the photography studio. Bringing the album home, the couple had one week to decide on the pictures that they desired. Jonathan and Daniel explained different wedding scenes in the photos.

"Here's one of me and Dad! He gave me your ring to hold, Mom!" Jonathan exclaimed.

"Yes, I had to check your pockets for toys and lizards before the ceremony, Jonathan," the seaman chuckled. "I seem to recall one lizard whom I had to evict rather forcibly."

"Oops," Jonathan grinned.

Carolyn could only imagine her son cramming said lizard into his pocket. She gave him a crooked smile and ran her fingers through the boys bangs.

"Darling, here's one of you coming down the stairs in your gown and these are on the beach at our reception. You talked me into removing my shoes and socks so we could pose in the surf together. I shall never forget," Daniel recalled. His countenance took on a warm glow, reliving each cherished moment.

"Lovely. They're all so… lovely." Carolyn couldn't keep herself from weeping. Seeing her gown, her family, the reception, and the beautiful Church in San Juan, made it more difficult to bear. Trying hard to remember, a twinge of pain was felt in her temples that she did not disclose.

Coming down the stairs, Candy mutely attempted to guess what they were doing.

"Candy, do you want to see the wedding pictures from San Juan? You were my Maid of Honor!" Fresh tears fell from Carolyn's eyes when she extended a hand to her daughter.

Taking a few steps, Candy stopped. She visually swept the room before moving closer to Carolyn. Selecting a few pictures Candy closely examined them, trying to fathom having no recollection of the big event. Her facial expressions were still closed for viewing until further notice.

"C'mon, Candy. We're a family just like you said!" Standing to his feet, Jonathan's words were insistent.

Hurling the photos down on the table, the girl stood rigid. "Mom may have married the ghost of Captain Gregg, but that doesn't make us a family!" Running back up to her room, Candy slammed the door behind her. _'No one remembers our real dad except me!' _Crossing her arms, Candy Muir fought against tears that were determined to make themselves known.

"Candy Muir!" Carolyn struggled to her feet with the help of her husband.

Daniel shut his eyes and released a heavy sigh. '_This will take more time, I see_.'

"What's all the commotion out here?" Martha wiped her hands on her apron.

Carolyn rubbed her tired eyes."It's just a little family problem. We'll work through it… somehow. Blast! I wish that I hadn't told you to throw out those candles, Martha!" A foot stomp met with the old wood floor.

Raising both eyebrows high, Martha walked over to the book cabinet and removed a box from inside. "Do you mean these candles, Mrs. Gregg? I-I'm sorry. Something told me not to throw them out! I-I just couldn't do it!" She confessed. Martha was looking up, but her head was down.

"Oh Martha!" Catching her housekeeper by surprise, Carolyn swooped in for a big hug.

Wide eyed, Daniel Gregg leapt from his seat on the sofa and snatched the box from their housekeeper's hands. Tissue paper flew in multiple directions. There they were. The wedding candles and bases from their first ceremony. Carefully, he removed them from the box as if handling the Holy Grail. Daniel had never been so glad to see an inanimate object that **wasn't** part of a ship, in his life.

"Martha, you marvelous woman!" He kissed her on the cheek that resulted in her producing a rosy blush. First, a slow smile returned, then Martha blinked and shook her head. "You two aren't mad?"

"Quite the opposite, dear Martha! Thank you!" Reaching over to his wife, Daniel took her by the hand. "Come, my love! Let us see if we can at least restore _your_ memories."

Carolyn felt the warmth of her own cheeks increase. She passed on a smile and a wink to Martha. Candles in hand, the two popped upstairs.

"Jonathan?" Martha's eyes were still glued towards the second story of the cottage. "How about you and I go into the kitchen and get some Blueberry Slump."

A wide smile jumped to the young boy's face. "Really?! Yay!"

Housekeeper and boy hurried into the kitchen to indulge themselves.

—

The Captain placed each candle and base on the dresser. Striking a match, he lit each one on sequence. Rubbing his hands together, he stepped back, allowing them to burn for several moments.

"Now what, Daniel? I-I don't feel any different." A mild disappointment was obvious in Carolyn's speech.

"_This_, my darling." Taking her face in his hands, Daniel drew her mouth up to his. The kiss was tender, but not long in length. "Anything, dear?"

"No, I'm sorry. Nothing's changed."

Not dissuaded, the ghost captain leaned down close and deepened the kiss. Arms around each other, Carolyn's legs were turning into wet noodles.

Daniel broke the kiss and gazed into his wife's eyes hoping for a positive answer. Shaking her head, Carolyn didn't need to speak the words.

"Blast! I was certain that this would do something!" A low thunder was heard overhead.

"Let's try something different. Are we doing anything else when we light the candles, Daniel?" Holding his hand, Carolyn softly rubbed her thumb over his.

The seaman was quiet. Looking toward their bed, he lifted an eyebrow. Picking up his wife, he carried her over, laying her gently down. Carolyn heard the lock engage on the bedroom door.

"We should focus on each other, maybe" she purred, starting to unbutton her blouse.

"My love." He gave a low growl and joined her, assisting with her buttons. Giggling, Carolyn switched and fingered loose the buttons on her husband's shirt instead. Exchanging kisses, all buttons came undone.

"Let me show you something, Darling," Daniel paused.

"I thought that you _were _showing me something, Daniel dear."

He gave her an impish grin. "This is one way the candles enable our unique bond." Becoming semi transparent, he gently pulled her into himself.

"Just relax, Carolyn," the seaman instructed her. They moved together in unison. Carolyn felt very much apart of her husband as he flexed their arms and hands. This was something well beyond what she could possibly think or imagine.

"Now you initiate the movements, my dear."

Once again, the two moved as one with Carolyn in the driver's seat.

"But how?" She asked.

"The exact details, I do not know. I can tell you that if our empathic link were open, we would feel what the other feels, pass those feelings and even thoughts to one another, and much more," he sighed.

"Is this empathic link connected to my memory, then?" A deflated Carolyn stared down into their empty hands.

"There seems to be some kind of relation, I would say." Gently, he separated them. A flat emptiness was felt in Carolyn that left her uncomfortable.

"Can the candles restore my memories, Daniel?" She flexed her fingers.

"That is my hope, Carolyn, my love. That is my hope." Squinting, the crows feet he bore became accentuated. "D-Do you _need_ me, Darling?" His reticent words soft as silk.

Carolyn winced as water filled her eyes. "What kind of asinine question is that? Of course I do, Daniel!" Her words quiet, but strong.

"Forgive an old spirit, my dear. I have so missed our oneness. My need for us to truly be one in each other grows with each passing day," Daniel pined.

Carolyn could almost feel his need, it was so strong. "Then what are you waiting for, silly goose?" She whispered.

With a hushed chuckle, he opened his mouth and apprehended her lips. Pulling closer, their hands sought the hidden places of each others body. Soft moans and sighs grew in intensity.

Articles of clothing were cast to the floor. Their longing to become one ventured into the land of desperation, with the glow of their candles ever increasing. Trails of sweat were felt on Daniel's brow as he directed all of his efforts into Carolyn, working to penetrate her innermost being and break the lock on her memories with his love. The brilliance of the candle flames grew to a higher level of empathic strength. With a mighty thrust of his spirit power, the wall that stood as a block to their bond, exploded and fell in a violent crash. Spilling over, he surged and coursed through her being, pulling Carolyn out of the void that had held her captive. Soul, spirit, heart, and mind, they intertwined. A shock wave was felt between the two then spread beyond, which both ignored. Quietly becoming semi-transparent and with the utmost tenderness, the two merged into one once more. All of their memories came flooding back into Carolyn's freed mind. Dissolving into her captain's embrace, she began to weep. Holding her in his strong arms, Daniel soothed her brokenness with his unbridled devotion and compassion. Moved and relieved, his own tears fell into the strands of her blond hair.

"I-I can't believe that I almost lost you, Daniel." Carolyn shuddered at the thought, squeezing him tighter against her warm flesh.

"I won't let you _lose _me. I will always fight to stay by your side, my love." Stoking her hair, his voice pleasantly smooth as velvet.

"It still seems like a horrible nightmare," she said, wincing at the thought of her deceased husband's ghost.

"It **was** a horrible nightmare, Darling, one that should have never occurred. One that will never be repeated." A hint of malice could be found in the words as his vision locked on their wedding candles. The candles that Muir tried to do away with.

With renewed strength from her husband, Carolyn straightened her posture. "I know who I am now, Daniel. I know who _we_ are, too." Wiping the last of her tears away, she held her head high.

"Welcome home, my darling, welcome home…" Facial expressions relaxing, Daniel relished and reveled in their unique bond of becoming one. The emptiness that pervaded his being in her absence, was expelled… '_I will do what I must to insure that we will not be severed again, my love.'_

—

The completely reunited couple walked down the stairs of Gull Cottage. As they approached the bottom step, Captain Gregg caught a sound from behind. Turning about he saw Candy Muir standing at the top of the stairs, tears streaming down over the freckles of her face.

"I remember… Dad. I… remember… you, now." More tears fell from the girl's eyes.

His bottom lip trembling, Daniel reached out to the young lady. Bounding down the steps, she leapt into his awaiting arms.

"I'm so sorry, Dad! I-I'm so sorry! I said awful things to you! I'm sorry! You'll always be my dad!" Arms around his neck, Candy buried her face in his shoulder.

The seaman's sweet-salty heart melted as he tried to choke back his own tears. The effort was unsuccessful.

"And you will always be my daughter." He held her close as she sniffled in his ear.

A reservoir of emotional turmoil broke inside of Carolyn's heart. Her face now stained with tears of joy, instead of sadness. The trio ambled into the kitchen. Martha stood at the sink, peeling an onion under the cold running water. Tears, possibly not from the onion, ran down her cheeks, blotting the housekeeper's apron.

"How could we have forgotten about you, Captain!?" Martha laid down her onion and joined the weepy trio. "I remember you, now. I remember everything!"

"Maybe more people will remember, now, Daniel," Carolyn speculated reaching for a tissue from the table.

"We shall see, dear. We shall see. I am most grateful that at least my family remembers me. It has been most trying." Captain Gregg initiated a group hug.

"Hey! Wait for me!" A voice was heard.

Jonathan squeezed his way into the middle of the family grouping along with Scruffy who barked his approval. Another heart felt hug resulted. Gull Cottage was once again home to a true loving and happy family.

—-

A crisp and crackling fire could be heard in the master cabin later that evening. The couple basked in the light of the flames, snacking on cheese and crackers. Carolyn was enjoying a hot cup of tea while Daniel indulged in a glass of Madeira.

A question was riddling the ghost captain's mind. One that wouldn't stay suppressed. A question that cut into the very heart of him. He was fairly sure that he already knew the answer, but it gnawed at him, none-the-less. Clearing his throat a few times and talking a deep false breath, he decided that it was time to address the matter. Pausing her sip, his wife took immediate notice, sensing the change in his demeanor.

"Carolyn. I feel the need to ask you a rather personal question," he said, tugging on his ear, then stroking the length of his nose.

Carolyn recognized his discomfort signals, but also his need for an answer.

"Oh? What do you want to ask me?" She took another sip of the tea and stole a glance at the fire when sparks danced in the air.

"Your ex-husband," Daniel coughed. "He-he eluded to saying that-that you two were…" A blank stare captured the seaman's face. '_Blast! I can't bring myself to say the words!'_ Daniel's mouth felt like he drank bilge water.

"You want to know if I slept with Bobby when I lost my memory of you? It's a fair question to ask," she demurred and nibbled a piece of cheese.

A sadness swept through his spirit body, heart sinking into oblivion.

"The answer to that question would be that I did _not_ sleep with him." Carolyn felt the wave of Daniel's emotion.

Relief washed over the seaman as his tension dwindled away.

"I take it that Bobby made up some elaborate story that we were lovers? Am I right?" The remaining cup of tea eased down Carolyn's throat.

"Yes, he did at that, Carolyn."

"He was tormenting you, Daniel. Bobby was very effective at doing things like that when it suited him. Apparently, death hasn't changed it," she said dryly. "He did try to talk me into sleeping with him, though. Saying how he had changed and that he wanted to be a family again. I wasn't buying into it."

"Thank heavens!" The ghost captain was finishing the glass of Madeira.

"Daniel? What would you do if I had?" She watched him intently now, her curiosity peeked.

Her husband choked on the last swallow of the wine. Clearing his throat several times, he responded. "It would not have been your fault, Carolyn."

His continuing discomfort was obvious to her both inside and out. "But you would see me differently?" She pursued.

"Ultimately, no, but I would have destroyed your ex-husband's spirit. I almost did and am still giving it due consideration." Daniel's eyes turned a cold hard ice blue.

"I see," the ghost wife replied. "Why don't we forget all about _him_ and concentrate on us, instead?"

"If that is what you wish, then I will whole-heartedly comply, my darling." His blue eyes softened, bringing her close for a luscious kiss.

The fire in the old hearth snapped and popped. The fire between ghost husband and wife also snapped and popped for a good portion of the night.

—-

_"Could this finally be a normal day for us? Finally?_" Carolyn wondered if she dared to think so. She tucked herself further into her husband's embrace on their bed. Instinctively, his arms encircled her. A low rumble emerged from her seaman who appeared to be sleeping. She would be content just to remain this way for another hour or two longer, but today would not be that day.

"Daniel? Daniel? Did I remember to tell you that I have an appointment with the baby doctor today?" Gently nudging her seaman.

An eye opened on the captain's face. "Do you, dear?" Raising the two of them up, he yawned. "I do not recall." A stretch of his arms followed.

"I should get up and shower, Daniel. Martha will probably have the kids off to school soon." Carolyn began to slip away from the blankets, but Daniel caught her for a quick kiss before she could make good her escape.

"You will also eat a hearty breakfast, dear," he announced as she departed from their room. Her response was a predictable sticking a tongue out at him.

He willed himself to be clean and to have a fresh pair of Levis with a tan oxford shirt. The next stop would be to see if Martha had any breakfast for Carolyn ready. He believed that the dedicated housekeeper most likely did.

Under the watchful eye of Captain Gregg, Carolyn Gregg ate a hearty breakfast. All of it.

—

"I'm getting even hungrier with the baby growing so much, Daniel. I'll be eating more than you have ever seen before," Carolyn assured him as she spied a donut shop on the way into the hospital. The thought of the sweet glaze frosting and the wafting smell made her mouth water.

"Good, I will be most pleased if you do, darling." Her husband held the elevator door open for her. "Now we will see if anyone at the doctor's office remembers me."

Waiting in a room, the expectant couple was hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst.

The door opened and a wide smile gave greeting. "Mr. and Mrs. Gregg. It's good to see you, both again." The obstetrician shook the captain's hand, then turned to Carolyn."You look much better than you did on your last visit, Mrs. Gregg. You must be getting more rest."

Catching the doctors implication, Daniel cast a sour look to his wife.

"Y-yes, I suppose that I am." She put on a wry smile.

"Mrs. Gregg, I'll get the nurse and we can get started with your monthly check." Opening the door, he motioned for the nurse.

"What does he mean by '_you look much better than you did on your last visit?' _What _did_ you look like on your last visit, Carolyn?" Daniel whispered to her in a concerned, yet agitated timbre.

"Later! Later!" She shot back.

One nurse and doctor re-entered the room. Measuring tape in hand, the monthly check began.

"Have you two signed up for the Lamaze classes, yet? If you haven't, you should before she gets too much further along." The doctor suggested.

"L-lamaze classes? What is that?" Captain Gregg questioned.

"Here, Mr. Gregg. I have some pamphlets that should explain the core beliefs of Lamaze child birthing. Some of them have helpful illustrations."

"Illustrations?" The sea captain looked more perplexed as he took the pamphlets in hand.

"We can talk about that later, Daniel dear." Carolyn gritted her teeth through a forced smile.

Moments… too… late. Her ghost husband was already thumbing through the information, his eyes becoming larger upon seeing the illustrations.

"Good heavens!" He remarked while loosening the button around his collar. He found the contents to be _unsettling_. With a grimace and a shake of his head, the pamphlets were tucked into Carolyn's pocketbook.

"I want to start seeing you every two weeks, Mrs. Gregg. Things seem to be progressing nicely." The obstetrician pulled the maternity blouse down over Carolyn's expanding belly.

The couple exited the elevator to make their way back to the station wagon. Spotting a gift shop, Daniel gestured for his wife to wait while he stepped inside. With folded arms and a twisted smile, she watched him enter. _'He must want to purchase something. Maybe it's for me,' _she hoped. Carolyn wasn't disappointed when her husband reappeared a minute later with a sizable bouquet of pink Sweetheart roses.

"You are long overdue for flowers from me, darling. I do hope that you like them. They were out of red roses at the moment." A drop of unease registered in his expression, tugging on his ear.

"Oh Daniel! Sweetheart roses! I love them. They're perfect!"

"Good, my love. I'm glad." He placed her hand in the crook of his elbow.

Returning to the car, Carolyn shimmied behind the wheel of the Nomad and laid the lovely roses down on the seat.

"At some point, Daniel, we'll need to teach you how to drive."

"Yes, I realize that, Carolyn. We may want to wait until there is no snow, though," he hedged.

"An empty, cleared parking will also work, if need be. Anyway, moving on. Remember, I want to give birth at home, Daniel." Tapping into their link, the ghost wife felt his discomfort and uncertainty.

"Are you quite sure about this, Carolyn? The pamphlets refer to being in a hospital setting," he balked and pulled at the cuffs of his shirt.

"Daniel, the pamphlets don't have any guidance for mother's who are birthing a spirit-fathered baby. I thought about asking Nurse Vivian to help with the birth."

"Her participation would make things less disconcerting. We shall contact her and find out if she is in agreement. Meanwhile, I suppose that we should sign up for these Lamaze classes that your doctor believes are needed." Rubbing his beard then fingering his collar, Captain Gregg wasn't entirely convinced that the classes were going to be a good thing.

—

Arriving back at Gull Cottage, Carolyn warmed herself at the parlor fireplace while Daniel checked with Martha on the status of lunch.

Popping over to the hearth, the sea captain joined his expectant wife.

"Lunch will be ready shortly, darling. Now, tell me what the doctor was talking about when he mentioned the condition of your _prior visit_." Daniel assumed his hands behind back position, while waiting with limited patience for her to reply.

Avoiding visual contact, Carolyn tossed her hair back and stared into the fire.

"At the time, Bobby was working to manipulate my mind at night. I was subconsciously trying to resist his attempts, but it was taking a toll on me physically and emotionally. I was so exhausted all of the time, Daniel."

The seaman's fingers flexed repeatedly, until his fists remained clenched.

"The doctor put me on strict bed rest with concerns that I could go into premature labor or… worse." She turned her gaze down to the wood floor and caressed her growing unborn child.

_'There. I said it. Nothing to hide. It's out in the open.' _Carolyn thought to herself. She listened for the inevitable thunder of her husband's consuming wrath.

It arrived with a vengeance as shelves, knick knacks and dinnerware rattled violently in the old house. Without a word uttered, Captain Gregg vanished in an instant. Carolyn had no doubts as to his destination. She wondered if this time her husband would indeed annihilate the spirit of Bobby Muir.

—

Materializing inside of the former Black Veil black compound, Captain Gregg first sought General Ito. Seeing the spirit's rage, all other ghosts moved from his path.

"I want to speak with Muir!" Daniel fired, flames reflected in his eyes.

"Is it time for another pummeling, Captain?" Ito calmly sipped his sake. "You cannot destroy this spirit. He is giving us the most information of any prisoner. You can speak with him through the barrier. We have removed their ability to pass through containment fields, but left communications open." Ito folded both arms across his chest.

"Very well. It will have to do… for now." he growled and raised an eyebrow at the general. Ito raised his own eyebrow in return.

—-

The last spirit that Bobby Muir wanted to see was Captain Gregg. He had not recovered well from the previous beating and possibly never would. Still keeping a fair distance from the rival spirit, Muir limped his way over to the barrier.

"W-what do you w-want?" He stammered from a swollen lip.

"What I want is to get my hands on you, but it would seem that is not going to be possible, presently." A crack of the captain's knuckles sent a clear message to Muir, who stepped back another foot.

"I'll answer your q-questions," shuffled the ghost.

"You used '_ghost speak'_ on Carolyn! For someone who claims to love her, you were doing her and the child great harm!" Daniel slammed his fists against the barrier causing the Muir ghost and others to jump.

"I-I didn't mean to hurt her. I stopped for a w-while and she got better, but then I was desperate and… and…" The ghost turned his face away in shame.

"You _even_ tried to kill Carolyn!" Fists slamming harder against the barrier, it began to flex. Guards rose to their feet in amazement.

"What?! What are you talking about?! I _never_ tried to kill Carolyn!" This time Muir came up to the barrier wall itself temporarily forgetting his fear.

"Yes, you did! The barrage of terrifying nightmares and untying the boom ropes on the boat so she would be knocked into the water! She almost drowned!" Thunder, heavy with rage, echoed through the caverns, causing rocks to tumble down.

"What are you talking about?! I stopped giving her nightmares over a year ago! I don't even know what a _boom_ is, let alone untie one." Muir looked genuinely stumped if not stupefied.

A loose flowing shiver went down Daniel's spine. "You followed us on our honeymoon."

"Ugh!" Muir's face contorted from nausea. "Why would I want to endure the torture of following you on your honeymoon!?" He was repulsed and shuddered.

"You had someone else do the dirty work for you." The captain's once rapid fire words were slowing in pace. Red flags raised inside of the seafarer's spirit.

"No! No! I alone was in charge of my mission. I swear, there was no one else." Muir rubbed his sore jaw.

"You _didn't _try to kill Carolyn?" The words faded as concern etched its way across Daniel's face.

"No! Why would I do that if I wanted to be with her and the kids?! Jonathan and Candy need their mother alive!"

_'Did Muir just make sense?' _The moisture in Captain Gregg's mouth was on the decline.

Staring at one another, both spirits felt the loss of words being replaced by a common sense of worry for the woman they loved.

Muir jumped despite his aching leg. "Our leader is missing," he said while bringing a hand to his mouth.

"What?!" Daniel was close to shouting.

"Our-leader-is-missing! The one who formed this group in the first place isn't here! The leader is still out there!" Muir slapped his palms on the barrier.

The hairs on the back of Daniel's neck raised to attention. An inescapable sense of dread crawled its way under his corporeal spirit skin. '_A ghost has entered Gull Cottage!'_

"I must leave!" Eyes wide, the captain disappeared from sight.

The damaged spirit of Bobby Muir sank to the floor.

With knowing glances, the guards quickly exchanged words in Japanese. One popped away to find Ito.

—-

Finishing lunch, Carolyn Gregg was ready for her nap. After placing the roses in a large glass vase, she casually entered the master cabin. Humming to herself, the expectant mother searched for a place to set the floral gift down. A familiar sensation trickled through her spirit.

"I wondered when… !" Suddenly, she paused. The glass vase slipped seamlessly from her fingers. Making hard contact with the wood floor, it shattered, causing the small pink roses to topple in different directions. Under a petite black shoe, roses were crushed as the spirit sashayed toward the captain's wife.

"Hello, _Dearie_," a voice crooned. Except for a vintage white blouse, the spirit donned all black apparel. Her face a pale, matte ivory, but still beautiful to behold.

Carolyn's eyes enlarged and her pulse grew rapid. The air around her felt heavier as she fought to catch a breath. Unable to move, she froze in her steps. A cold unrelenting fear reared its ugly head smothering any courage that may arise. Words reached into her mind delivered by Daniel's voice.

_'Your hair is a storm at midnight. Your eyes black pearls from the ocean depths. Your voice an angel's song in the wind…'_


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Returning to Gull Cottage as quickly as possible, Captain Gregg stretched forth his senses as far as they could reach. With finger-like precision, they penetrated his dwelling in search of a lone spirit. He could feel it. The same spirit that followed them on their honeymoon was currently on-the-move in his home.

'Blast!' He agonized.

Pushing himself beyond his own limitations, Daniel poised himself to attack. Balcony doors in the master cabin blew open with the sea spirit bearing down close behind. Without a glance and summoning his sword, he went in for the kill.

What he beheld once inside of the bedroom caused him to stop mid-stride. Staring incredulously, the captain's muscles exhibited a stiff tension.

_'It can't be!' _he muttered in a low voice. "V-Vanessa?!"

The female spirit tossed her long dark hair behind her shoulders.

"Surprised to see me, Daniel darling?" Batting her eyes, she sent the seaman a low, seductive glare.

Giving the room a quick visual scan, Daniel frantically searched for his beloved wife.

"Where's Carolyn?! What have you done with her?!" He shot the spirit a scathing look that edged on an inkling of violence.

Moving to one side, Vanessa used her hand to indicate the place of the other woman. Carolyn was huddled down small into a corner of the room. Shaking from head to toe, her mind appeared to be somewhere else other than the bedroom. Viewing a different world, she was uttering words that could not be understood.

At the sight of his wife, Captain Gregg hastily descended to her side.

"Carolyn? Can you hear me, my love? Carolyn?!" Daniel swept his palm in front of her face, but no response was found.

Pivoting around, gnashing his teeth, the captain closed in on the invading spirit.

"Vanessa! You have made ghostly suggestions to my wife! What did you say to her?!" Thunder boomed above the seaside cottage and lightning struck a nearby tree, splitting it down the center.

"I only told her the truth about you, Daniel dear…" Vanessa conveyed in an innocent inflection while leisurely strolling about the room. "… that you _never_ stay with just _one_ woman and that her marriage and life with you are a… **lie**. It wasn't _my _fault that the woman just crumbled like a stale cake! Well… maybe it _was_… in a way." She feigned a thoughtful look tapping an index finger on her cheek.

"I found her weak spot, you know. What she fears the most, Darling. What silently haunts her dreams, deep in the night."

"How _dare_ you! Carolyn knows that I _love_ her and would _never _leave! What have you spoke _into _her?!" Captain Gregg brought his sword up to eye level with the spirit in a non vocal threat.

The female spirit took a step back. "You fool! It's what _she_ told me! I only confirmed _her_ own _fears._ Those _things_ that spawn despair if given too much thought." Vanessa picked up one of the crumpled roses from the floor. Removing the petals one by one, they fluttered down. "He loves me. He loves me, not. He loves me. Oh, he loves me … _not!_" she mocked with a frown, slightly tilting her head at the ghost captain.

"What are you rambling about, woman?!" His nostrils were flaring.

"I plucked it from deep in her memory like a pretty, pretty flower, I did. But you don't remember, do you, Daniel dear? She remembers it, I tell you, and she remembers it… _all… too… well!_" Taking the petal-less rose, Vanessa tapped it against Daniel's chest with each word she drawled.

Snatching the stem from her hand, the seaman threw it on the floor.

"You're talking nonsense, Vanessa!"

"I'll refresh your memory for you, Darling." She scooped up another of the pink roses. Continuing her casual stroll, the spirit slid her fingers along various antique nautical pieces while softly humming a tune. "Do you remember your first encounter with this… this…"

"Watch your tongue!" Daniel smoldered, eyes thinning into slits.

"This… _woman_? It must have not gone well. _Tsk, tsk, Daniel._ It seems to have left a foul aftertaste in her mouth and a festering wound in her heart. Something… you said." A finger to her lips, Vanessa exaggerated a ponder. "Yes, that's it! Something about you having 10, 20, half a hundred girls in every port, if you wanted… never tied to an apron string or put by the fireplace like a pet poodle… even though many tried, was it? Oh, also, there was something about it being impossible to _like_ women." The spirit gazed at the ceiling and shrugged her shoulders. "Yes, that sounds like something you would say, Daniel dear." Looking at Carolyn, Vanessa brushed the dainty albeit damaged rose over her own pale cheek and smirked.

Captain Gregg searched his memory and found the elusive but incriminating conversation. His facial expression dropped a complete level. "You corrupted my words…"

"Hardly, Darling," stepping up to the captain's binnacle. "They were _your_ words—verbatim—_not_ mine. I only brought them to the surface and confirmed where there was already a blight present. Her greatest fear is that you will _tire _of her and go back to chasing other women. It's true, you know. One day, you will do just that. She'll be cast aside… made to feel worthless. I-I remember how that feels… quite vividly. The pervading emptiness of being rejected by someone you… love." Vanessa's head and arms hung down with long hair falling over her pale tortured face.

An eerie stillness drifted heavy in the air evoking a sense of somberness in both spirits.

Snapping herself out of the memory, she spun the seaman's telescope in multiple circles like a toy, distracting herself from the previous focus.

"You no longer know what truth is, Vanessa. Truth has become _subjective_ in your mind. You have manipulated it into what you want it to be." Walking to his binnacle, the seaman put a stop to the spinning scope.

"Just as much as you do!" she speared back before recomposing herself. "Come now, my husband, we mustn't quarrel." She stepped down and glided toward Carolyn.

"I am not nor ever have been or ever will be your husband, Vanessa!" He vehemently growled, moving in between them.

"We were engaged, Daniel Gregg. That would make you my husband." She demurred and lightly ran her index finger along the seaman's collar bone.

"We were never _married_!" He stepped quickly away.

"We _should_ have been and you know it!" Vanessa glowered.

"Still bitter are we, Vanessa?" he seethed.

The two spirits had begun to circle one another. Ancient wounds reopened afresh, spilling out decades of suppressed poison.

"_I'm_ the one that should be your wife, not that modern day wart of a woman!" she fired back.

"My Carolyn is more of a loving beautiful wife than you could ever _hope_ to have been! You _know _why I broke our engagement, Vanessa," Daniel retorted.

"You should have married me, regardless! A true gentleman would have!" Her chin raised in the air, indignant.

"A true lady would not have betrayed her fiancé and become pregnant while he was at sea!" Daniel stormed, literally. Thunder and lightning abounded while a torrential downpour swept over the cottage.

"**_You_** are the spirit that followed Carolyn and I on our honeymoon. **_You_** tried to _kill_ my wife!" he roared, veins pulsing in this neck.

Vanessa curtsied before the ghost captain. "I was also at the wedding, my sweet, you just didn't sense me!"

"All of this is about your _vengeance_?" Daniel spread his hands wide. "Take it out on _me_, not my wife and family!"

"To be _sure_, I started my revenge on you decades ago, Daniel **_Dearest_!" ** Wild-eyed, Vanessa bled profusely with malevolent laughter at the inflamed seaman.

"Did you _really _believe that you just kicked that gas heater with your foot on your own?" She chortled a disturbing smile that implied more.

In a rigid stance, Captain Gregg caught her meaning. "What are you saying, Vanessa? You didn't have anything to do my passing." Contorting painfully, his gut was informing him otherwise.

"I died shortly after giving birth to my twin daughters, _not_ in 1881 like you were told," she hissed, edging closer. "My ghost came to your home on that blustery November night when you returned home from sea. You were exhausted, and I just helped you… _into a deeper sleep!_" The spirit proudly boasted. "I adjusted your foot so that when you turned over, the heater valve would be struck and the gas could escape. I _saw _it happen and I _watched_ you die!" Vanessa seethed, taking dark pleasure in her deed. "I even _whispered_ that you were responsible for your own demise!" she shouted, conjuring a deafening thunder clap of her own making.

Blindsided by her confession, Daniel staggered backward a few steps, losing his sense of balance. Steadying himself, he leaned his back against the dresser. A heaviness sank into his chest.

His ex_ fiancé_ murdered him and he was only now coming to that realization, the truth of the actual event having been concealed in the folds of passing time. For 100 years, what he believed to be factual was a cruel fabrication. Saliva in his mouth increased as he grappled with the acute nausea wrenching his gut. He struggled, comprehending the grisly truth that this was no longer the room that he died in. It was the room that he was… _murdered_ in.

Bending down, Vanessa whispered in the seaman's ear. "You know what they say, Daniel. _Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned." _

Becoming upright, the _scorned_ spirit continued her torment of the accused. "I would have been fine with simply aiding in your death. I watched you haunt this house for years… alone. But then this **wench** moved in and you were smitten with her! I knew that something had to done, so I sent my great, great grand daughter here to you. It was amazing how much we resembled each other! You were smitten with her just like you were with me! I thought at least I would be rid of the Muir woman…"

"Wait! _You_ sent Miss Peekskill here to _lure _me away from Carolyn?!" Yet another latent truth was about to wash the seaman overboard.

"Yes, it was _me_ that sent my young Vanessa to you! She didn't know that, of course, but I made many suggestions eluding to it, and you fell for her! Still thinking with your groin, I see, _Daniel!_

"What is it that you said? Oh!" Hands on her hips, she lowered her voice in imitation of the sea captain. '_Now, Mrs. Muir. I said that Vanessa could stay here as long as she pleased. My house is her house!'_

"Absolutely wonderful, Darling! You couldn't have said it better if I had given you a script."

"Stop it, Vanessa, this instant!" Captain Gregg demanded, still reeling from her previous verbal blows.

Ignoring him completely, Vanessa continued her castigation. Leaning in closer, she stood face to face with her emasculated prey.

"The best part though, was when you asked the Muir woman to try on the shawl that you bought in Morocco for _me._ She thought that you were giving it to her! How humiliating that must have been for her when you asked her to give it to **my** young Vanessa! I couldn't believe that you would _dare_ request such a thing from her! I found it most entertaining… and… it made my _ghost whisper_ to her today so much easier! Your foolishness feeds her fears!" she jeered with malicious delight, clapping her hands together. "Bravo, Daniel, bravo!"

Sinking to his knees, her caustic words burned straight into the core of Daniel's ethereal heart. Unveiling and adding to his buried shame, they stabbed at a gaping wound that had filled a multitude of cargo holds full of his regret. It was a lapse of judgement on his part. As with any such lapse, there would come a price. One that he would still continue to pay. A price that his Carolyn would be required to pay as well. Turning away, the captain's eyes brimmed with salt water that was not from the sea. He swore curses under his breath, realizing he had eagerly, yet unknowingly, waltzed right into her trap.

"When that didn't work in the end, I started the Black Veils. A group solely dedicated to each other's need to right the wrongs that occurred in their earthly and after lives! It was not difficult to find and recruit such disgruntled spirits. The Muir boy was one of them. I was even willing to let that Bobby Muir have his wife and family if it meant keeping _you _from her."

"You are truly an evil, twisted woman, Vanessa! I had not realized until this very day how demented you really are!

"I am what my life has made me! If things had been different, then I would have been different." Stiffening her arms, the spirit was satisfied with her personal assessment.

"No, Vanessa. You're wrong. You don't want to be held accountable for the choices that you've made, so you blame others to justify your evil actions! You cannot be allowed to ruin anymore lives!"

"I know you, Daniel Gregg, and you would never raise your hand to a woman!"

"No, I wouldn't, but I believe that I can live with myself for apprehending the woman who killed me and has damaged or ruined so many innocents!"

Springing to his feet, the ghost captain grabbed ahold of her wrist and spun the spirit around in an arm twist. Bringing her other wrist back, he snapped the restriction bands on her that were hidden in his pocket. Unable to vanish, Vanessa vehemently screeched her rage. Captain Gregg held a tight grip over the struggling spirit despite still wanting to retch.

In an unforeseen moment, a coherent Carolyn stood up. "Daniel may not hit a woman, but I have no problem with it." In a quick move she became semi-transparent, drawing her arm back and cold cocked the female spirit, knocking her out.

"Carolyn!" Dropping Vanessa, Daniel lunged to catch his weakened wife before she succumbed to unconsciousness. Gathering her up in his arms, he hurriedly transferred Carolyn over to their bed.

General Ito and two warrior guards materialized into the bedroom.

Giving a directed nod, Captain Gregg addressed the trio.

"You'll want to take that woman into custody. She has been behind everything, including the Black Veil group."

Ito grimaced at the seaman in disbelief. "This little woman?"

"Yes, General. Do not let her size fool you, she is quite dangerous. Her name is Vanessa. She is… my ex fiancé." His grieved expression remained hidden from their sight.

Once the guards picked Vanessa up, they bowed and vanished.

"While I am not surprised, I am very sorry, my friend." Ito put his hand on the captain's shoulder then disappeared.

"As am I, Ito. As am I." Covering his wife with a blanket, Daniel laid beside and watched her sleep.

—-

Resting on a provided cot, the ex fiancé awakened. Sitting up, Vanessa took in her surroundings. '_A containment field. Of course. How predictable,_' she thought, sliding her hand down the smooth barrier wall.

"Any attempt at escape will prove to be futile," Ito informed the newest arrival.

Setting her jaw, Vanessa brought herself up as erect as her petite size would allow. She sent the Japanese general a challenging gaze that wavered not. Remaining still, no words left her mouth.

'Fools! They have no idea who I am,' she mused.

Ito didn't move a hair from her unspoken call to battle at a silent game of wits. Warrior almond eyes met the stare from the eyes like black pearls.

In support of their leader, two Samurai guards drew closer to the sides of the commander. Fingers curled around the handles of their swords, the warrior guards would not hesitate to decapitate the female spirit.

Assessing her enemy, Vanessa returned to the cot. 'I will allow these impudent fools to believe me weak… for the time being.' She consoled herself.

—-

Revisiting Vanessa's harsh words, Daniel knew that she was not entirely incorrect. This was not the first time that things he'd said and choices that he made had come back to haunt the ghost. Indeed, this spoke that it may not be the last, either. Daniel thought that they had already come to terms with his colorful past when it came to women, but it was not to be the case. He recalled almost losing Carolyn when Miss Peekskill came Gull Cottage. A mistake that he would not repeat.

The two had addressed the subject of his _other women_ prior to marrying, but he had not realized what still remained within his beloved wife. Hidden deep inside Carolyn were the insecurities that can play and plague a woman's heart.

Bringing up Carolyn's hand, Daniel studied the emerald encrusted wedding band he had purchased for her.

_'Blast! How could I have been such a blind fool!'_ He berated himself.

Damage control would be in order when his wife arose. This time, Daniel was determined to be thorough in his assurances to Carolyn. It would call for a sacrifice on his part, though. Something that he chose to keep secret from her should now be revealed.

Though the two could blend into one in each other, they still had the freedom to keep some matters hidden. Obviously, both had done so.

Unbidden and unannounced, Daniel's own worst fears paid him an impromptu call with an undertow of shadowed doubts. Contrary to seaman's normal disposition of confidence, a weakening bravado pulled him out to sea like a riptide. His fears exerted an _unnatural_ grip on his reasoning.

'_Could this be the last straw for Carolyn? Marrying a spirit was enough of a stretch, but marrying one whose sorted past may make periodic and possibly dangerous visits?' _A withering grief registered on the captain's face._ 'What about the children? Everyone will be in harm's way. It is too much to ask of any woman or family. This cannot be allowed to continue…'_

Still watching his wife sleep, Daniel Gregg came to a most difficult decision. Salt tears trickled down over the seaman's pillow. Now, he had to inform his wife.

—-

Behind the transparent barrier, Vanessa suddenly sat up straighter. A grin gradually became visible on her face before evolving into a full-on belly laugh for no obvious reason.

—-


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14

A hard slap to Daniel's cheek was Carolyn's reaction. "How _dare_ you!? How _could_ you?! After all that we've through together!? You _want_ Vanessa back, don't you?!" Her tears poured out as she fled the bedroom, securing her handbag as she left.

"What!? No, of course not! I-I **don't** want Vanessa!" he insisted, reaching his hands out to her. _'How could she even think such a thing?' _

His words fell on deaf ears and his reach went unseen. Carolyn could listen no more. As quickly as possible, she scampered down the stairs, her low heel shoes clacking against the old wood treads. Speedily, Carolyn departed through the front door, leaving it wide open. Reaching her car, she shimmied behind the wheel and drove away. A single clap of thunder was heard overhead.

Martha bolted out of the door after seeing her employer flee. Taillights were seen accelerating down the road. Knuckles on her hips, she confronted the captain who had just materialized.

"What have you done?!" Eyes narrowed, she glared at the seaman.

"I-I thought that I was doing what was right, but it has gone terribly wrong! The dejected seaman confessed and weakly threw heavy hands into the air. "I must go after her!"

"Oh, no, you don't!" Came a familiar voice. Pastor Edmond appeared into view and restrained Captain Gregg's arm. "You and I are going to have a talk, my son!" His usual sweet face turned upside down into an unholy scowl.

"Now?!" The seaman protested, jerking his arm back.

"Yes, now!" He made another grab for the escaped arm.

"_You_ go to confession, Captain," Martha ordered as she poked her index finger into his chest, _"_and_ I'll_ see if Mrs. Gregg is alright. I think that I have a pretty good idea where she went." The housekeeper's eyes followed down the road. Turning herself around, Martha procured a box of tissue and two coats before slipping into her own car.

"Blast! I will _never _understand women! Never!" Captain Gregg buried his face in his hands.

—-

"I'll _never_ understand that ghost!" Carolyn breathed in a loud sniffle. "Blast!"

Through her tears, she piloted the car to the rear of the old barn. There the vehicle would remain out-of-sight from any prying eyes. Shuffling her fingers through the glove box, she hoped to come across the key that allowed her access to the building. Buried in a corner the ghost wife found her prize. With a brief smile, she picked the silver key up.

Once inside, Carolyn spied an old bench that Daniel must have built before his passing. Sitting herself down, she regarded the boat that the pair sailed on their honeymoon. "_When did it all go wrong?_" Shivering and giving herself a warm hug, she realized her winter coat must still be hanging in the foyer. A quick tightening was felt in her womb, causing her to wince. Lowering her head, the tears returned. The sobs were loud enough not to hear Martha's new car pulling up. Missing one winter coat, Carolyn shivered and wept in the cold.

"I thought that I might find you here." Martha entered the barn and draped a heavy coat around the weeping woman's shoulders. The housekeeper did something that normally she wouldn't do. Martha sat down on the bench and lit a cigarette. Taking a couple of puffs, the housekeeper offered it to her friend. Carolyn took a drag.

"Men are idiots, Martha." Another clap of thunder was heard. Both women gazed upward. "Maybe that was me," a sheepish Carolyn admitted. Taking another drag from the cigarette, she handed the smoke back to the housekeeper who gave her a double-take.

"Uh-huh. They can be. Sometimes they think that we're idiots, too." Martha still kept eyes on the barn ceiling waiting for the other shoe to fall. "Want to talk about it?" She offered the open tissue box.

Additional tears pooled in Carolyn's eyes as she told the tale of what had been said.

"I don't believe it, Mrs. Gregg! That's impossible!" The housekeeper drew herself back and blinked several times in a row.

The pitch of Carolyn's voice rose notably higher. "What don't you believe, Martha? That Vanessa's ghost was at Gull Cottage? Daniel said that she was behind everything that happened! I just vaguely remember punching her… I think." Carolyn viewed the sawdust floor intently.

"Oh, I believe that she was here and behind everything, Mrs. Gregg. What I _don't_ believe is that the captain wants to be with her. _Don't_ you know how much that man-ghost loves you? _You're_ the one that he wanted to marry. I've never seen two people who love each other more than you two do. You're practically attached at the hip, if you ask me." Martha puffed on the cigarette and blew a smoke ring.

"That's what I thought too, Martha, but now… I don't know. I've always wondered if Daniel would want to find other women once he was tired of me." Carolyn watched the smoke ring dissipate into the cold air.

"Now who's being the idiot, Mrs. Gregg?! Something's not right here, I tell you. He was an idiot for what he said and now you're being an idiot for what you said. You both need to have a long talk with each other. C'mon, Mrs. Gregg. We're going back home." Martha extinguished the cigarette and took Carolyn's hand.

"I need a little more time before going back, Martha." Carolyn wept as the housekeeper patted her back.

—-

The Samurai guards couldn't help but stare at the peculiar female spirit.

Sitting on her cot, Vanessa was singing an old nursery rhyme, again and again while rocking and finger looping her long dark hair.

"_London Bridge is falling down_

_Falling down, falling down._

_London Bridge is falling down,_

_My fair lady."_

_"Off to prison, you must go_

_You must go, you must go._

_Off to prison, you must go,_

_My fair lady."_

Over and over, she sang the little ditty.

'We're not done, yet, are we, Daniel dear. Your little wife must be on her way, after all,' the spirit reflected.

—-

There wasn't enough room in the attic to pace, making an apprehensive Captain Gregg even more apprehensive. Becoming semi-transparent, he passed through the solid objects and kept a watch through the stained glass window.

Privately, Daniel shouldered the charge to pursue his wife through their empathic link. Upon arriving at Carolyn's end, a great impassable chasm was discovered, separating the couple. Recalling her short but intense reaction to his words, the ghost captain felt his chest cavity constricting.

Inside the fissure that raged in front of him, rapids of raw liquid emotion swept through. Threatening turbulent waters of grief, pain, and anguish careened and pounded against imaginary obstacles bent on impeding the intended course. From whirlpools of unanswered questions churning at Daniel's feet, the whispers of Carolyn's overlapping words pervaded his hearing and heart. In the distance he could scarcely see the outline of his wife. Her back turned to him, she desired no contact.

Carolyn sensed her seaman on the far banks of her emotion filled river. Being _eternally female_, she assumed that Daniel would not encroach into such violent waters which she set into motion. Her assumption proved to be… _incorrect_.

Jutting his chin and squaring his shoulders, her captain entered the fierce current of Carolyn's unrestricted perceptions and pain.

Realizing his access, Carolyn snapped her head around. _'Do you really want_ _to know what I am feeling, Daniel?!_' Pain etched in her green eyes.

'_You know that I do, Carolyn,_' he responded boldly.

Coercive eddies of emotion infused waters lifted at the sea captain's feet. Before he could react, the rising waters utterly consumed him. Not only could Daniel feel what she endured, he _experienced_ what she endured, his own words piercing her soul. Strength gained from her pain, she hurled him back onto the bank no worse for wear but decidedly shaken.

Opening his eyes, Captain Gregg lay flat on his back in the attic of Gull Cottage. Taking a minute while fixing his sight on the ceiling, the seaman ruminated over what he had just encountered. His only means of identifying, were close to being run-through with a sword. Rubbing his eyes he concluded, '_I have only served to wound the one I desire to protect…'_

Pastor Edmond materialized. Delighting in finding potato chips in the kitchen, he helped himself to the open bag.

"You should know better than to try and speak with your wife when she is _this _upset with you, my son. Oh no, no! Not even through your empathic link. She'll let you know when it's time to talk. My, Carolyn is getting as cantankerous as you, Daniel!

"I am not _cantankerous!_" Holding his head, the seaman groaned and rose to his feet. Padding his shirt and pants, he noticed a distinct dampness.

"Now, I know most of the backstory, Daniel, so you needn't go over everything for me. Just tell me what happened today." Robbing the bag of more chips, the clergy popped the salty treats into his mouth.

"Have you been spying on us, Pastor?!" The sea captain's face turned 2 shades of red.

"No, of course not!" The shocked ghost pastor turned 3 shades of red.

"Good." Captain Gregg wiped sweat from his brow and adjusted his now too-tight collar.

"I get angel reports." Edmond smirked and chomped on another chip.

"What?!" Daniel sent the pastor a warning shot across the port bow.

"Just kidding. Please continue." He stifled a snicker.

Moving about the attic, the captain relayed the events as he recalled them.

"And that is when I informed Carolyn that for the safety of her and the children, we… should… annul… our marriage." The seaman's stomach felt seasick again.

"You're being an idiot, son." The pastor brushed salt from his fingers.

"Blast! I am not an idiot, Edmond! I am simply trying to keep my wife and family safe from… my past… indiscretions." Producing a heavy imitation sigh, he recomposed himself. "Surely, you can understand that. I cannot have my past come back and be a threat to them."

"It wasn't just **your** past that came back, Daniel. Carolyn's made a guest appearance, too." Rubbing fingers along his beard, the spirit pastor had a hunch. "I don't like this. Something smells rotten in Denmark, as they say. We need to get to the bottom of this so that you and your wife can be together."

—-

Carolyn and Martha returned as the two spirits departed from the attic. In the hall, neutral looks were exchanged by Daniel and Carolyn.

Pastor Edmond took point in the conversation.

"Daniel and Carolyn. I believe that the two of you have been '_hoodwinked.' _You are not behaving like yourselves—no, sir… no, ma'am!" Addressing both, he shook a raised finger at them.

"I agree with you, Pastor," Martha said, nodding. "I know something isn't right with Mrs. Gregg. When she doubts how the captain feels about her, I know that there's a problem somewhere." She studied Carolyn head to toe, bringing a frown to her employer's mouth.

"It's Vanessa," Daniel groaned and slouched. "She admitted using her power of suggestion on Carolyn. The woman discovered and played upon Carolyn's greatest fear."

"Would that be a fair assessment, Carolyn?" Edmond took her small hand in his.

Confusion muddied her thoughts as she tried to clarify his question. "I-I'm not sure. I suppose…?"

Martha stepped in. "That would be a _yes_, Pastor Edmond. The children will be home soon, so I need to get ready. Lilly will be over, too." She excused herself back into the kitchen to resume her duties.

"Carolyn? Would you allow Daniel complete access to your heart? He can remove what was done, but you have to let him inside." Edmond squeezed her hand for reassurance. He could see that the ghost wife was becoming more uncertain by the minute.

"Yes?" A heavy cloud grew more dense as Carolyn's judgement became further impaired. "But he wants Vanessa, not me." Her face was assuming a blank stare.

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Captain Gregg lit their wedding candles in preparation. "We must hurry, Edmond! The poison of Vanessa's ghost speak is taking a deeper hold!"

The two escorted his wife into the master cabin to sit on the bed. Fumbling in his pocket, Edmond produced a bottle of anointing oil. Dabbing his fingers, he made a symbol of the cross on Carolyn's forehead and uttered a prayer under his breath.

Joining her on their bed, Daniel pulled her into his embrace. Closing his eyes, he sought to open their empathic link and reconnect with his wife, hoping not to encounter any further barriers.

_'Let me in, Carolyn. I'm here. Open the door, my love. I can help you. Please, Carolyn, don't shut me out… I love you… more than anything or anyone else.' _

The door on a wallless empty house that floated among white cotton clouds opened of its own accord. Stepping inside, Daniel spotted his wife staring out of an open back window that hung in mid air. Her hair was long and was blown by an incoming breeze. Smiling, she turned to him to speak.

_'I-I was fooling myself and… I only have myself to blame, you know. You would think that someone my age would know better.' _ The smiling face faded as grief took center stage. _'I should have know that I couldn't hold onto someone like you. You can have any number of women that you want. I'm n-not…' _

Daniel broke into her speech, placing his first two fingers over her lips. '_Carolyn. No! Don't say such things. It's not true. Darling, forgive me. I should have told you the truth long before now.'_

With a touch of his words, he opened her memory. 'Carolyn,_ remember_!' He reached all of the way back to the first night that they met.

Immediately the couple stood in the master cabin viewing the scene of the a sleeping Carolyn with Captain Gregg standing nearby. This was the first day the widow and her family made their home at Gull Cottage. She listened intently as Daniel recited his words over her that evening.

**_'I never once allowed a woman aboard my ship, but if I'd known you a hundred years ago, I would have carried you off to sea and shown you how beautiful the world can be. I would have met my match in you! Lord knows I waited for you and hunted for you. How was I to know you hadn't even been born, yet. No, you won't remember any of this when you wake up, madam. You shan't have that advantage over me. How sad… that you were not born in my time, nor I in yours…'_**

Mouth coming ajar, Carolyn turned to her husband.

"Daniel, why haven't you told me about this, before?"

The seaman pulled on his collar and gave her a crooked grin.

"I did tell you, my dear. Do you recall the dream that I gave you and the family that one particular Christmas? I said that from the moment I saw you, I knew that you were the one. I meant it, Darling."

"But why didn't you want to tell me about how you felt from the first night?"

The seaman tugged on his ear. "My dear, your arrival at Gull Cottage caught me completely by surprise. Being unprepared to finally meet the one woman who I would love for all eternity, my defenses were down and I felt the need to guard my heart. Torn between wanting to tell you or shielding my heart so you wouldn't take advantage of me and…"

"And make you a pet ghost poodle by the fireplace. Is that right?" She finished his thoughts and folded her arms.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, Daniel hesitated once more. "Essentially, yes. Please try and understand, darling, that many women in my day would be on the _hunt_ for husbands that they could capture, keep bound and run their lives. Not being nearly as independent, they needed to find a man to marry or expect a life that was much less than _pleasant_. I may not have handled it as well as I should have, but now you know the truth. You've always been the only one for me, Darling."

"What about '_being tied to an apron string_' or '_put by the fireplace like a pet ghost poodle…' _Being tied to me, you won't have 10, 20, half a hundred women at your beck and call… anymore…" Carolyn's voice trailed off as her face searched his eyes..

'_Blast my foolishness!_' he bemoaned himself.

Enveloping her in his arms, Daniel poured his open heart into her empty vessel.

"My love, please forgive my ill-considered words. I do wish that I could take them all back and drown them in the ocean's depths. My blustering has had a backlash effect on you that I _never_ intended. I would do anything to heal the grief that I have inflicted upon you, Dear." He brushed a tear from her eye as she brushed one from his. "Y-you know that one cannot tie down the willing. The rope will go slack. You can only tie down one who desires escape, and I do not _want_ to escape from your arms, Carolyn."

The ghost wife pulled her husband down for a loving kiss. "I forgive you, Daniel, don't ask me to leave."

Suddenly waking up, Carolyn mentally emerged back in real time gazing up at the spirit pastor.

"I'm… back?" Shifting her sight, Carolyn saw Daniel sleeping next to her on the bed.

"Daniel? Wake up, Daniel." She gently shook her captain.

"Don't try to wake him, Carolyn. I have him in a deep sleep on purpose. Now it is your turn to help him. I was able to go back and find when Daniel's time of ghost seed implantation took place."

Carolyn's hand crept over to clasp the hand of her husband. "What does ghost seed implantation mean? What's happened to Daniel?!" Her voice was raising with an attached urgency.

"A seed of ghost suggestion was planted inside of his mind many many years ago by this Vanessa woman for his future. Weeks before his passing, she inserted a dark seed of suggestion while he was at sea. Terrible, yes, terrible!"

Carolyn quickly rose to her feet and thrusted her arm towards the ocean. "How could she do that, Edmond? Daniel never took any women aboard his ship!"

Gently taking her quivering hand, Edmond guided her back down to be seated on the bed. "It's very complicated, Carolyn, and Daniel should be the one to explain it all, not I." He laid a hand on the spot where the spirit's heart had once beat. "I'm sure that he has been fighting it but doesn't realize what he's been fighting. What ever happened today has strengthened her _whispered words _over him. You're the one that can free him, Carolyn."

"H-how? I-I don't know what to do," she stammered in a thick emotion-drowned voice.

"You do the same thing that he just did for you. You find the truth for him, Carolyn. Truth is what sets people free. Truth can dissolve any lie, child."

_'You can do this, Carolyn! Come on!' S_he pulled her shoulders back, straightening her posture.

"Tell me exactly what to do, Pastor Edmond."

"I can help as you enter your empathic link with Daniel. In his mind, you will go back to the time that Vanessa did her dirty deed. Trust, Carolyn. You'll know what to do." Gently, he nudged her forehead back where she slipped into their link.

Carolyn's world faded to a flat black. She awoke to the sounds of creaking wood. A tall mast stood erect before her small frame. Turning a full circle, she gasped to be aboard a mighty, ancient ship at sea. A moon shown brightly above her while a vast array of stars had been strewn across the clear night sky. A calm sea completed the picturesque scene.

_'Is this what it was like for Daniel on his journeys?' _Carolyn pondered the thought for a minute. Coming back to herself, she set a course for below decks to find her captain. Slapping a hand to her chest, hustling bodies of seaman walked straight through her as she searched for his quarters. '_How does Daniel get used to people passing through him?_'

The sound was faint, barely detectable to Carolyn's hearing. A woman's voice was coming from one end of the vessel. Following stealthily, she heard more. This was Vanessa's voice, Carolyn was certain.

'_Am I too late?_' She questioned. Keeping herself hidden, Carolyn listened closely.

"…You will ultimately destroy any love that you may find, Daniel Gregg. _If _you _should_ ever fall in love, your past will find you and you'll destroy the one whom you love. You can't escape it. The past will always find you, Daniel, and she'll _never_ be safe with you. You shall _always_ wound and cause pain to the one you… _love_." Grim sarcastic laughter silently inundated the ship before Vanessa's spirit vanished.

—-


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

'_I did it once, why not just _**_do_**_ it again_? _Why _**_can't_**_ I just clobber the _**_witch_**_!?_' Carolyn's resolve was melting like a popsicle on a hot summer day. After mulling the tempting idea over, the ghost wife twisted her lip and balled her fists, deciding _not to_ attack the former _fiancé. 'A cat fight between two female spirits?' _Glancing off, Carolyn tried to imagine what her husband would think. '_Besides, it could make things worse, not better._'

She peered around the corner. '_Coast is clear_.' By habit the future wife ventured in on tiptoes into her husbands cabin. Metal squeaking paired with mattress squishes resounded from the bed where Daniel violently tossed and turned. Rushing to his side, Carolyn softly hummed one of his most beloved songs. Bringing her face close to his, her finger tips invisibly stroked his furrowed brow. Within a few minutes, her seaman settled into a lulled state of sleep.

'_What do I say?_' Dozens of thoughts and sentiments crowded her mind all vying for priority attention.

"_Pastor Edmond said that I should find the truth for you, Daniel. The biggest truth that I know is… _**_us_**_. We're what's true, Daniel. You and I. No two people can be more true for each other than you and I are. I love you… and no one… and nothing can tear us apart because we _**_are_**_… _**_true_**_. Not your past. Not my past. We've always been meant to find one another, to always be together, no matter what happens. I have to believe that. _**_We_**_…are… what's… true." _

Eyes glistening, Carolyn's voice resonated with an increasing passionate confidence.

"_Wait for me, Daniel. Even if it seems too late, wait for me. I'll come… just wait. We can forget about our pasts. We have a beautiful future at Gull Cottage. As long as we're together, we can go anywhere, do anything! Focus on our future together, Daniel, our beautiful future."_

In the absence of tissue, Carolyn wiped her tears with the back of her hand. '_There must be something more that I can do,' _she wondered scanning the room. Over on the desk, an idea cut clean for a plan. Lightly bouncing the sleek weapon in her palm, Carolyn unsheathed the dagger. Her fingers curled comfortably around the green pearl encrusted handle that bore a perfect fit for her small hand. '_A green like my eyes_.' Separating out a long thick lock of her hair from the underside, she razored it through with a deft swipe. From the depths of a side pocket, Carolyn snaked out scraps of satin ribbon and wrapped the golden lock securing it in a bow. Stray wisps of hair tickled the seaman's cheek as she nestled her visual message into his pillow where he lay slumbering.

Tempted to linger and watch her love sleep, Carolyn had to mindfully force herself to leave. '_You know that you can't stay here. It's time to go.'_

'_One last thing!_' She backpedaled. Carolyn inched closer to Daniel's face, feeling his breath on her chin. Shutting her eyes she kissed his lips and disappeared.

—-

Sea gulls could be heard calling above the following morning as winds swept the sails on the mighty ship. Arriving topside, someone shouted, "Captain on deck!" All hands stood at attention with a salute.

"At ease, men. As you were," Captain Gregg casually ordered while pulling on his coat.

One of the officers approached him. "Morning, Captain. Did you sleep well, sir?"

"Fine. Why do you ask?" The weary captain fibbed.

"Well, sir. It looks like you've had a rough night, like you've seen a ghost… or something, sir."

"Nonsense! … Did anyone enter my cabin last night?" he questioned.

"No, sir. All was quiet, Captain. What would be our heading this morning, sir?"

Daniel Gregg gently retrieved the mysterious hair lock from his chest pocket, gazing blissfully at the blond strands passing over his fingers. "A beautiful future… I'm heading for a beautiful future."

"Sir?" The officer's voice faded.

Gasping for an imitation breath, Daniel sat straight up in his bed at Gull Cottage. Carolyn knelt by his side. "Are you…" Before she could finish, he melted his lips into hers. Goose pimples traveled across her bare skin.

"Carolyn, my love, my _true_ love! _We_ are true love!" Their arms tenderly encircled one another.

His cheeks feeling warm, Edmond gave them some time alone. He vanished with the potato chip bag in hand.

In a slight head jerk, Daniel's eyes popped wide. Releasing Carolyn from his grasp, he conducted a search through his wife's hair. Surmising his quest, she offered up no resistance. Obtaining his treasure, he gazed at the stubs of hair that remained where she had removed it for him.

"It _was_ you, Darling. _You_ came to my cabin that night after Vanessa spoke her _poison_ into my mind. Her hold over me is broken, my love, and I am most grateful to you." Daniel could feel the moisture collecting in his eyes.

Knowing her speech would crack from the emotion, Carolyn could only nod a confirmation.

Sweeping her up in his arms, Daniel dematerialized with his wife. The two reappeared in the attic. Shoving items aside Captain Gregg sifted through some of his more bulkier personal belongings, stopping when he captured a hand carved box. Removing the lid, Daniel held up the long lock of Carolyn's hair with ribbon still attached. The passage of time was evident. Bringing her into view, he smiled as Carolyn's face lit up from seeing her gift.

"But how?!" she chirped. "I just gave you this last night."

"My Darling, I have kept this since the night you placed it on my pillow a century ago. I remember the words that you spoke. I had a _beautiful future_ with a woman whose love was true. I needed to wait, though. You were out there, somewhere, I knew."

The sound of crunching became noticeable in their heartfelt moment of silence. The couple looked at each other, perplexed. In combined voices they shouted, "Pastor Edmond!"

The potato chip bag floated into view. "Oh, gracious! I didn't mean to be so loud, children. Carolyn, I believe that you were successful!" The pastor materialized revealing his reddened face that he tried in earnest to hide.

"Indeed, she was, Edmond". Raising an eyebrow the seaman shot a sour look to the clergyman. "How could this have taken place if Carolyn just gave me the locket of hair last night?" Daniel puzzled over the matter.

"Oh, well, Daniel. Some secrets Heaven chooses to keep!" The ghost clergy shrugged his shoulders.

—-

The time of little _rhymes…_ progressed…

Sashaying closer in her long skirt, Vanessa positioned herself at the transparent wall. In an extended moment she tilted her head down and glared at her guards.

Out of curiosity, her watchers drew close to the barrier, their narrow eyes becoming more narrow.

Her head now cocked to the side at an angle, she vocalized her nursery rhyme is a singsong voice.

_"Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,_

_Had a wife but _**_couldn't _**_keep her;_

_He put her in a pumpkin shell_

_And there he kept her very well._

The spirit woman glided three steps to the left, but kept her eyes locked on the two Samurai ghost guards.

_Peter, Peter pumpkin eater,_

_Had another and _**_didn't _**_love her;_

_Peter learned to read and spell,_

_And then_ _he loved her very _**_well!_**_"_

At the last word of her rhyme, Vanessa swiftly brought her hands together in a single loud clap. In that instant, the guards snapped into a trance, staring straight ahead and mouths falling open.

"My, aren't you good boys," the woman drawled.

Mindlessly, they nodded their heads in agreement.

"Here now, why don't you open the door for me like the _good _little boys that you are." Her melodic voice toyed with their blank minds.

One unlocked the door and the other opened it for the beguiling spirit. Her dainty shoes brought Vanessa to her new _pets_.

Another rhyme emerged from her twisting lips.

_"Ring-a-round the roses,_

_A pocket full of posies,_

_Ashes! Ashes!_

_We all _**_fall down_**_!"_

Her Samurai guards crumpled to the ground, fast asleep.

Stepping over them, Vanessa recited whimsical verses of her own making.

_"_**_Daniel, Daniel _**_pumpkin eater,_

_Had a wife but _**_shouldn't _**_keep her;_

_He put her in a giant clam shell_

_And _**_there _**_he kept her very well._

**_Daniel, Daniel_**_ pumpkin eater,_

_Had another and didn't love her;_

_Daniel learned to _**_eat_**_ the spell,_

_And _**_then_**_…_ _he loved her… very well."_

Becoming invisible, the wicked spirit strolled out of the prison compound, unnoticed.

—-

"I'm going downstairs to check on everyone, dear." Carolyn helped herself to another kiss and embrace from her husband, who eagerly complied by _reluctantly_ letting go.

Edmond gestured for Captain Gregg to join him outside. With a single curt downward jolt of Daniel's chin, both disappeared to the widow's walk.

"You wanted to say something in private, Pastor?" Daniel adjusted the cuffs of his sleeves wondering if more havoc was about to befall him.

"Yes, Daniel," he said while calling for the bag of chips to appear in his hand. "About Vanessa… I'm going to guess that you have been unaware of her ancestry? The girl's mother was a full-blooded sea siren and her father was a human."

"What!?" The captain erupted, snapping his head around. "No! I had no idea!" Running hands through his hair, he gritted his teeth.

"Yes, well, without going into great detail, Vanessa's half-siren heritage gives her a distinct power edge over most people, and even ghosts to some degree. Tell me, son, do you recall how you became involved with her?" The spirit pastor resumed his crunching while fluttering snowflakes buffeted the chip bag.

One eye closed, Daniel pored over the memory. "Actually, Edmond, I do not. I can only recall courting and proposing to the woman." He produced a faux gag.

"That would make sense, Daniel. I was informed that she used her siren song to lure you in. I'm sure that her beauty played a part, too, but the biggest leverage was her song—even humming would have had an effect on you." He wagged his head from side to side.

"Will the nightmare from this… this sea serpent woman never end!?" Angry bile stung the back of his throat. An unanticipated side effect to the couples 'becoming one'. Select human attributes were returning to the seaman.

Continuing, he swallowed down hard. "She… she murdered me… but you know that don't you, Edmond." Daniel hung his head low and slouched his shoulders from the fresh emotional weight that had been maliciously dropped there.

"I do, but only recently, my son. As difficult as this may be, Daniel, if you had not passed, then meeting Carolyn Muir would never have taken place." The clergy twiddled his plump fingers.

Spinning around, the seaman came face to face with the clergyman. "What do you mean by that, Edmond? I would have passed on at some point."

Levitating the chip bag, Edmond put out both hands as a tactile illustration. "Here. On one hand, yes, you would have passed. But on the other hand, you would not have stayed at Gull Cottage." Making a sweeping motion into the distance, he added, "you would have gone into Eternity and never met your Carolyn. She would have eventually remarried, but it would not have been for love. She would not have been happy, except for you, my son," he said, pointing his index finger at the ghost captain.

Daniel Gregg swallowed hard again, but the lump in his throat remained unmoved. There were no words left to speak on the subject, so the two spirits leaned on the railing and surveyed the incoming tide that chilly January day.

"By the way, my son, you have been granted a leave of absence from your spectral fraternity. I went and spoke with them, personally." Edmond puffed his chest. "Of course, it _does_ make a difference when you have a 15-foot Warrior Angel standing by your side."

Daniel laughed and both resumed observing the shore through the light snow falling.

—-

Just as the pair of ghosts were about to leave, General Ito materialized on the widows walk. Ito's expression bore the look of sucking sour lemons. The captain had a _bad_ feeling. A _hauntingly_ bad feeling.

"My friends. We have a problem." The general bowed and remained there. Daniel and Edmond bowed in return.

"Ito, stand up. What has happened?" The seaman attempted to look his Samurai friend in the eye, but Ito drew his face away.

"The female spirit has escaped! Her guards were asleep and the container door left open." The general growled to himself.

"I must find Carolyn!" Daniel disappeared from their company.

The two spirits followed behind.

Returning to the inside of Gull Cottage, Captain Gregg came upon his wife taking deep breaths and reclining on their bed. Flinching, she massaged fingers on her baby belly.

Dropping to her side, he placed a hand on her abdomen that felt watermelon tight.

"Carolyn! Are you alright!? Is the child alright!?" Daniel involuntarily matched breathing rhythm with his wife.

"Yes, I'm fine, Daniel. These are just practice contractions. They're common in the last trimester. See. It's over. I'm fine."

Carolyn drank in his silence as the captain kept his sight on their unborn child.

"Daniel? What's wrong?" She asked, trespassing on his speechlessness.

His thoughts racing, he mentally groped to find the right words.

"Ito… is here. Vanessa has… escaped from the compound," he conveyed in a low voice.

The lack of sound was contagious as laughter, only nothing was humorous at the moment.

Looking away, Carolyn scrunched her face like a dried prune. Her husband pulled her close and held the quaking woman. He could sense her fear rising up and taking a dominant position.

"There is something else, Carolyn," he sighed.

"There's more?! It gets worse?!" A fire lit under her words.

Passing on a calming strength to his wife, he continued, "I have been informed that Vanessa is half sea siren. Her power can go beyond that of a normal spirit."

"And you were going to _marry_ this woman, Daniel?!" Hot angry tears wet her cheeks.

Taking her agitated question in stride, he gently tightened his hold of her.

"You need to rest, Darling. I'll be right here."

"Sleep?! I can't sle…" Carolyn went limp in her husband's arms, fast asleep.

With great care, he laid her back on the bed. Daniel brushed his wife's hair from her face and blotted her tears with his hanky.

"I am sorry, my love, but your need for rest is vital." He motioned the throw blanket to cover her.

With a stirring behind, Ito and Edmond materialized into the room.

"Gentlemen, I wish to be alone. I need time to… think." Captain Gregg positioned himself at the binnacle. From his normal custom, he peeked through the telescope only to observe that night had fallen.

Ito gave a slight bow to the clergyman and approached the sea captain.

"You do not need to do this alone, my friend. You have help." He rested a hand on Daniel's shoulder.

"Yes-yes. He's right, my son! You aren't alone. We want to help." Edmond reached up to place his hand on the other shoulder, but fell short. "Oh dear, Daniel. I seem to be on the lacking height end."

Captain Gregg exposed a smirk to the titan-wanna-be pastor. "Well gentlemen, what do you purpose?"

The general twisted the hairs at the end of his beard. "You say that this spirit is half sea siren? If so, we should devise a trap."

"Yes, she is half siren, alright. We'll need a plan!" The potato chip bag materialized back into Edmond's hand.

"I can help!" The small twin voice rose to their hearing before appearing in the room. Lilly ran to the trio. "I want to help!"

The seaman lowered himself to the girl's level.

"Young Miss Lilly, under normal circumstances, I would welcome for your help, but this is a dangerous situation. What you _can_ do to help would be to keep watch over Jonathan and Candy. Alert me to anything unusual."

"I can do that, Captain Gregg," the duel voiced girl beamed. "But I can do more! I'm stronger than I look!" Lilly asserted floating up to eye level with the three spirits.

The ghost trio exchanged pleasant grins.

"My dear, while you are truly an extraordinary girl, I think this is best left to the adults," he spoke in a warm and gentle tone.

"Oooh, alright." Lilly turned in mid air to go and watch over her charges. "Let me if you need me!" she called, floating through the door.

"We shall." Captain Gregg rocked on his heels with hands behind his back.

"She is a brave girl," Ito noted, still grinning.

"Yes, she is, General." The eyes of the sea ghost softened. "Some of it may actually be rubbing off onto Applegate, surprisingly."

"Should we include him in this plan?" Edmond reopened his bag of chips, consuming several at once.

They weighed the idea and unanimously shook their heads expressing a grimace.

General Ito made a quick grab for a handful of chips out of the pastor's bag, cramming the entire amount in his mouth.

"Hey!" Edmond pulled the bag out of Ito's reach.

"Hmmmm, pretty good. Reminds me of dried squid. More." Curling his fingers towards his palm, Ito made the 'give me' sign.

Pastor Edmond clutched the bag to his chest extending his chin forward.

"What's the magic word, Commander?"

Poking a tongue into his inside cheek, the Samurai squinted at the bag.

"Potato!" He announced standing taller and giving a head nod. "And it's _General,_ not commander."

Eyes wider, the cat had Edmond's tongue as he stood speechless.

Captain Gregg recalled seeing a second bag of chips from a twin pack and summoned it to levitate its way upstairs.

In her curlers Martha observed the floating chip bag while she searched the hall closet for a blanket. "We must have ghost guests," she half-resisted a yawn.

The freshly-opened bag of potato chips sat at the center of the three spirits as they discussed strategy for recapturing the escaped female prisoner.

"What weaknesses does this siren spirit have?" Ito chomped extra hard on the chips in his mouth.

"I believe that would be her thirst for vengeance on me." Distracted, Daniel reached into the chip bag and claimed a salty prize.

"Anything else?" The Samurai removed his sword from its sheath.

The captain leaned deeper into the chair with a chip still in his fingers. "She appears to be… over-confident, I would say." The fried potato slice found its destination.

General Ito considered the Japanese symbols on the sword recalling each meaning. "We can use this information to our advantage."

"I concur, General. We also need to ensure that her siren powers will not have any effect on us."

Pastor Edmond paused his potato chip processing. "Oh! That one is easy! I can use the anointing oil to shield you. She won't be able to penetrate that."

The ghost captain called his own sword into his hand. "Good. I have an idea, gentlemen, but it will take all hands on deck and has never before been attempted to my knowledge." His eyes darted between the two men.

The deadness of reticent thoughts hung heavily within the wood paneled walls of the room. Muted flames frolicked playfully among the remnants of logs long spent inside a brick hearth.

The spirit pastor cleared his throat laying aside the first chip bag. "I think that the general and I can agree that we are both with you in this, my son."

Ito rose to his feet drawing his sword front and center. "I offer my service to your cause captain," giving a bow.

Rising up, the seaman returned the warriors bow. "It is indeed good to have friends such as yourselves." Firmly, he shook their hands.

—

Frigid air rushed in through the open pane of an old shattered glass window. Elongated shreds of antique wallpaper, still attached, danced in delight from the encompassing wind while the paper's boisterous pattern screamed at itself from the opposite wall of the bedroom.

A long abandoned crib stood lonely aside one of the tattered papered walls. Its only companion was a worn and faded white whicker rocking chair whose seat had caved in. Shards of dingy sheer curtains billowed at the pair as winter winds passed through.

Small pale feminine fingers slid along a bowed railing of the barren crib. Leaning over, a voice cooed at an absentee child.

"There, there, now, little one. It will be alright. Don't be afraid. Your daddy and I will take good care of you here, won't we, Danny boy," she said, turning her gaze to the empty doorway. "_I will be your mum_ and the Muir woman won't be a bother to you anymore."

Clutching frayed yarn fragments of a tiny crotchet blanket in her hands, the spirit eased herself into the splintered rocker giving way to its intended motion.

Her honeyed voice lead into a lullaby.

_"Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top,  
When the wind blows the cradle will rock.  
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,  
And down will come baby, cradle and all._

_Rock-a-bye baby, gently you swing,  
Over the cradle, Mother will sing,  
Sweet is the lullaby over your nest  
That tenderly sings my baby to rest._

_From the high rooftops, down to the sea  
No one's as dear as baby to me  
Wee little hands, eyes shiny and bright  
Now sound asleep until morning light_

_Rock-a-bye baby, on the tree top,  
When the wind blows the cradle will rock.  
When the bough breaks the cradle will fall,  
And down will come baby, cradle… and all."_


	16. Chapter 16

_—_

_ Chapter 16_

Several hours into the night, a meeting of the minds evolved into a meeting of conflict. Overlapping viewpoints equaled overlapping opinions.

"This is _not_ what I had in mind at all!" Inhaling a sharp false breath, Captain Gregg pinched the bridge of his nose.

"But this is the only way your plan can work, Daniel. It has to be Carolyn." Tenting his pudgy fingers, Edmond lowered his face.

"Then we shall scuttle my plan and form a new one!" One hand rubbed the side of the seaman's neck while he cranked his head in the opposite direction.

"Time may not be on our side, Captain." Turning papers around to one side, Ito reviewed battle strategy notes taken during the lengthy span of planning. "The woman spirit will be expecting us to use energy containment field weapons. She will prepare and we will be at a disadvantage. While not perfect, this plan," he said while thumping his finger on the paper, "She will not be expecting. We have… advantage." The general's narrow eyes slimmed smaller as his grin became more pronounced.

"There is too much risk involved." Daniel kicked over a box of old clothes, releasing a musty odor into the air that pervaded the room. "We must find another way! I will not ask my wife to do that!"

"The general is right, son; we don't have time to spare, I'm afraid," Edmund said, stealing a look over to the warrior. "This Vanessa woman won't wait long to make her move."

"Hai, she is a brazen spirit!" Picking up the captain's sword, Ito scrutinized every inch with a squinted eye.

"Daniel? S-son…?" The short stout preacher questioned.

Marginally aware of the presence of his friends, Captain Gregg's mind had already bled over into the forbidden waters of 'what if.' His blue eyes staring out of the stained glass window in the attic, he observed blends of red, pinks, and purples that announced the arrival of a new day. '_Red sky at night, seaman's delight. Red sky at morning, seaman take warning.' _

Folding his arms and leaning on the wall, he watched. For Daniel, this new day was a day of what ifs that aggressively shoved him out of his comfortable ghostly borders right into the awaiting storm of unknown caliber. '_Can I protect my wife and child? My family?_'

—

Taking in a deep cleansing breath, her eyelids flitted open. Carolyn stretched a cramping arm over to her husband who lightly slept beside her. Her fingers strolled over his pillow meeting up with the auburn waves of her sea captain's hair. His eyelids still heavy, he pulled her in close to assume a spoon position. With one arm, he held her firm and the other arm nuzzled around their unborn child.

"Don't-get-up-yet," he slurred a whisper. Carolyn snuggled into her husband. Glancing under the blanket, her face flushed at the sight of the previous days clothes that now wrinkled haphazardly against her body. Her well-meaning sandman husband ushered her into last night's dreamland tour. Closing her eyes, Carolyn stretched her legs and curled her toes, relaxing in Daniel's arms.

One word stabbed at her tranquil bliss.

_'Vanessa.'_

Her eyes snapped open, scanning their bedroom for any betraying signs of the dark spirit. Carolyn's pulse lost all calmness, racing like an Indy 500 car. Tapping into their empathic link, she sensed the seaman's cocoon of unease that had been woven together with the threads of coarse trepidation.

"Daniel?" First rolling on her back, Carolyn discovered that her feet were no longer visible. '_How much longer? Five or six weeks? How big _**_is_**_ this baby going to be_?' Raising her knees for balance and inhaling deeply, she held her watermelon abdomen and tipped over, laying face-to-face with her husband captain.

"Daniel?" She repeated her inquiry. His one eye opened, calling in a response from the other. Instantly, he became aware of her feelings and met her eyes with his.

"Belay that fear, my love. A plan is underway to apprehend the spirit." His fingers brushed her cheek, but an escaping deep sigh betrayed all confidence.

Rising up on one elbow, Carolyn's eyebrows knit together.

"But there's more, isn't there, Daniel?" She drew a portion of her bottom lip into nibbling range. Faint thunder rumbled above the cottage, initiating a rolling of both their eyes up to the ceiling.

Her captain ground out the words that he had earlier refused to utter.

"It requires… your participation, Carolyn." Rotating onto his back, Daniel broke eye contact and briefly covered his face with his hands.

"I see. What do I need to do?" She noted his lack of volunteer communication.

The sea ghost scrubbed a hand over face still watching the ceiling.

"**_If _**we proceed with this plan, you would store my energy from the spirit realm and release it to me when needed, although I no longer approve of this plan!" Shutting his eyes, Daniel took in a faux calming breath. "It was my hope that Ito could store my energy, but that will not be possible." Stifling a hint of a belch, fluttering was present in his stomach with nausea inching close behind.

"It sounds simple, Daniel. What's the problem?"

Her husband catapulted out of their bed and absentmindedly started to search for a pair of jeans instead of 'willing' them in place.

"It is not as simple as it sounds, my dear." He struggled, putting a leg into the jeans, hopping in place on one foot.

Carolyn tried her best to cover a smirk with her hand.

Succeeding with one leg in the jean, he bumped into the nightstand bouncing back on the bed.

"Blast!" Refocusing, the jeans appeared in place along with his turtle neck sweater.

"What is it about the plan that you don't like?" The expectant mother placed her hand on the father's arm.

Clearing his throat, Daniel turned to his wife. "I will be engaging Vanessa in battle, wearing down her strength. She will be wearing mine down as well. At least that is what she needs to believe. At my signal, you should become visible and transfer the energy to me. I will be able to restrain her and take the woman into custody. Ito will be standing by to help. But you will become vulnerable for a short time. Knowing how she feels about you, Carolyn, I do not know what may happen." His eyes pleaded with her to refuse involvement.

"Your body and our child will be protected with Edmond, but your spirit…." The seaman threw his hand in the air.

Carolyn demonstrated a mock punch of her fist. "Why can't I just clobber her, again?" The reigning majority of her heart was serious, but she knew that it was grasping for straws.

Disapproval gleamed in the seaman's eyes. "Surely you jest, Carolyn."

"Of course," she blinked, feigning her innocence and scratching a new itch on her belly. "W-what about Ito's Samurai army? Can't they ambush her and capture the… witch or _something_?" The straws available for Carolyn to grasp at grew fewer.

"Unfortunately, no. She will sense the army and go into hiding until we let our guard down. No… I must lure her out into the open and away from Gull Cottage."

The ghost wife shook her head as if clearing dusty cobwebs from her mind. "No… you're using yourself as bait? There must be another way, Daniel! You can't be bait for this… this tramp!" More straws dwindled away.

"We have found no better way and have run out of time, Darling. If I do not make a move soon, I can assure you she will." His words fell thick with a dire certainty that set his wife on edge.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Carolyn buried her face. Silent tears made their entrance. Carolyn Gregg ran out of straws… to grasp.

Tightly scrunching his own eyes shut, Daniel pulled his expectant wife into his lap, not fully aware that he was slowly rocking the mother and child.

—

Far away on a distant shore, weather worn boards moaned and complained on a widow's walk under the strain of a tempest wind. A slender dark figure stood alone on the top of an old coastal manor. With a rasp smile, her arms opened wide to receive the brutal force of nature's announcement of the impending storm.

Her voice lit with a teasing cackle. "Are you ready for me, Daniel dear? You should be. A sea captain without a charted passage would be like a fish out of water." Her dark eyes sheared over to a complete black. "…Or perhaps in your case it would be like a little mermaid out of water!" Vanessa's cackling reached vociferous as the wind of the rising storm.

—-

"What do we do from here, Daniel?" Carolyn brushed her tears and blew into a tissue. "I'm coming with you, even if it is as a spare tank of gas," wiping under her nose.

"Yes, I thought that you would feel this way." Daniel held onto his wife tighter like he was clutching the last helium balloon that threatened to escape his grasp. A lonely shadow crept over his expression revealing more than what he normally allowed.

"Eat first and take your shower, dear, then we will discuss this further." Helping her stand up, he maneuvered around in order to keep his tale-telling face concealed.

Carolyn snapped sharp eyes up to his, vocally pummeling her objection against his shield.

"Oh, no, you don't, Daniel Gregg! Don't you dare put on a facade! We're going to be _fine!" _Grappling with a smile that she forced, her voice slid into gravel. Was she trying to convince him or herself? Maybe both.

Shifting his weight to the center, Captain Gregg towered over the petite woman who knew him all too well. Stormy ocean waters rose and fell in his blue eyes before gradually acquiescing into calmer seas.

"Yes… we shall be fine," he deliberated jutting out his chin. In a slight delay, Daniel noticed her trembling bottom lip and falling countenance that begged for his comfort. She was sending up her S.O.S. to him.

Leaning in, he lightly brushed his lips against hers while pulling her closer into his personal space. Carolyn parted lips for her captain, that he could retrieve her _message in a bottle. _Fluent in reading his wife's body language, the sea spirit dove into her deep anxiety laden waters for a mouth-to-mouth rescue. Bringing her head back, Carolyn exposed her neck in fevered hope that the seaman would inspect her airway with his kisses. There would be no disappointment as his lips traveled her inviting path. With a snap of his fingers, their marital candles flamed to life. Guiding his wife back into the shallow waters of their bed, Daniel elected to perform his own version of life saving nautical procedures. The breakfast and shower now rested in a future tense.

—-

In the kitchen, a pudgy pastor spirit paced the floor passing through an assortment of obstacles. Jumpy hands were drawn behind his back.

"My goodness! Where are they? I thought that Carolyn and Daniel would have come down ages ago!" The clergyman's gaze shot upward.

Mild mannered Martha was standing at the sink pressing a wash cloth into the soiled breakfast bowl. She submersed it deeper into the soapy water.

"I wouldn't bother them, Pastor Edmond, if I were you," she said in a singsong voice.

"Why on earth not, Martha. We're at quite a critical juncture here. Action must be taken!" The pastor plowed a fist into his opposite awaiting palm.

Dropping the dish rag and bowls, the diligent housekeeper turned on her heels to face the antsy clergy.

"Because, Pastor Edmond, there is a good chance that they are already busy and taking action, _if _you know what I mean!" Martha hooded her eyes and raised both eyebrows with a stare that cut through his ghostly brain fog.

"Oh? Oh! Oh g-goodness! Now? N-now of all times?!" he sputtered looking back up toward the second story.

"No time like the present. So I _wouldn't_ bother them if I were you!" Turning back around, Martha resumed her dish cleaning.

"You seem to be very casual about it, Martha." Edmond scratched a spot in his beard that didn't really itch.

Once again the housekeeper turned around, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"I've been around Mr. and Mrs. Gregg for a while. They're in love and act like a couple of teenagers and they deserve to if you want my two cents. I just try to stay out of the way and give them the needed privacy."

"I believe that I will heed your good advise, Martha. Any intrusion could go very badly. Yes, _very_ badly I'd say. Thank you." Edmond started to visually search the kitchen.

"Glad to help, Pastor." Martha spun a plate in the dish towel.

"S-say, Martha?" The search went into levitation mode as pantry items moved themselves into new locations.

"Yessssss?" Martha slurred.

"Do you have any more potato chips around?" He flashed his best smile at her.

Knuckles on one hip, the corners of Martha's mouth bent downward.

—


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

"I think that I missed breakfast," Carolyn crooned stroking Daniel's arm that curled around her in a most pleasing manner. Legs crossing over each other, the couple had resumed their earlier spoon position.

A placid look of euphoria on the seaman's face crumbled to the pillow with a pronounced moan and a sprinkling of guilt.

"Blast! I will pop down to the kitchen and find you something, my dear," he started to pull himself away from a moment that entreated him to remain.

"No, stay. I'm fine for the time being." Her hand clung tighter to his arm refusing his attempt to depart.

"Did you do it?" Her finely plucked eyebrows arched with the inquiry.

An eyebrow of his own arched in return. "Do… what?" A search of Carolyn's face provided him no clues.

The expectant mother shifted to a more comfortable position on her back.

"Did you deposit your spirit energy into me, yet?" Her previously arched eyebrows flattened to a dull line.

A single bead of sweat rolled down the captain's temple. "Don't I always… Darling?" Bringing her hand up to his lips, he planted a kiss.

Dead air drug its weight through the room and sat in the corner.

It was just a slight head-cock as she contemplated his words. Carolyn's face took on a warmer glow. "Ohhhh, that's not exactly what I meant," she purred with a grin that rivaled the Cheshire Cat.

"Have you transferred your…" Her search for the correct words came up short and the Cheshire grin diminished, finding a new home on her captain's face.

"I understand what you are referring to my dear and the answer would be, _not yet_." The Cheshire Cat grin divulged that the canary had been swallowed, too.

She scrunched one side of her face. "When?"

He leaned in closer. "Whenever you feel ready."

"I-I'm ready, Daniel." She fingered a strap of the gown that had slipped off of her bare shoulder.

"Then focus on meeting me in our empathic link."

Closing her eyes, the seaman's wife directed her efforts into entering their mutually established connection. She drifted through the open door that separated mind from emotions. Daniel had already arrived and was waiting in his navel stance of hands behind back.

The pair joined hands giving each other light caresses . "I think that we were just here, Daniel dear." Carolyn leaned into her husbands chest and sparkled her green eyes up at him.

"Indeed we were, my love. Now we shall proceed into a new place."

The sound of a waterfall splashed in the background where none had been prior to that time. Steams of spilling water frolicked in Carolyn's ears. Her clothing dissolved into the bathing suit she would wear while sun bathing in the yard at Gull Cottage. Daniel fashioned a pair of modest cutoff jeans. The fraying edge suggested that this was not the first time they had been worn.

"Close your eyes and step through, Carolyn," he laid his hands carefully over her sight. She popped a smile like a surprise party would be waiting for her on the other side.

One foot passed in front of the other. "It feels like water," she swirled her fingers in the liquid that flowed almost imperceptibly around her thighs.

"There now, my dear. Open your eyes." He dropped his hands away.

Slapping a palm to her chest, Carolyn had to catch her breath before it escaped altogether.

Standing in a grand pool of pristine clear cerulean blue water, she beheld the towering waterfall that cascaded down through various tiers in front of her bulging eyes. Catching a glimpse of her captain, Carolyn noted that his eye color stood identical to the pool that shimmered and danced below her waist. The satin blue cascade of water was sieved with silver at its fringes, lending an illusionary quality to the eye. Stepping back to gain a greater prospective, she tipped her head to see that the waterfall emerged from behind white cotton ball clouds giving no indication of its origin. A mist that shrouded the bottom displayed a vivid velvety rainbow that surely hid a pot of gold at one end. Maybe even a little man in green could be standing guard over the treasure, she imagined with a salty grin.

Tropical plants and blooms dotted the landscape lining up along the pool's edge, nodding with the soft breeze. Their fragrances carried up through Carolyn's breathing passages leaving their sweet scent to linger on.

Turning 180 degrees, the ghost wife realized something that had utterly alluded her until that moment. What first appeared to be an island was in actuality more. She was on an island…suspended _in the_ _sky_.

Catching another deep breath, the ghost wife ventured closer the edge, brushing dainty blossoms of rich reds and shimmering pastel pinks with her fingers along the way.

"Of course." Her smile grew wide and her eyes thinned. A borderless sea spread beneath them. White caps below seemed to bow to her their serene greetings.

"Do… you like it, my love?" Daniel's baritone voice softly fell on her hearing. "I have so wanted to bring you here, just not under our present circumstances."

"It's… magical, Daniel." Her heart rate increased to a vigorous level. "Where are we? Am I really here? What is this place?" Her cheeks turning a bright pink, Carolyn suddenly felt like a school girl on a first date, jitters and all.

Her captain responded with a modest chuckle then cleared his throat.

"We are in the spirit world and it is your spirit that is here, Darling. Your body is still back at Gull Cottage resting on our bed. And here… this place," he scanned their proximity, "I designed as a place that I may come to restore my spirit energy." Stepping back, he gave her a gentleman's bow.

"A place of respite?" She chanced a guess. "Wait! _You_ designed this place? How? Her questions kept coming like they were riding a conveyer belt from her mind to her mouth, shooting out of the closest exit. Looking down, her smile cracked when she caught on to her own endless string of questions.

Hands behind his back, Daniel presented an owlish smile of his own.

"This _is_ a place of respite, but it is also _so_ much more." His words proceeded delicately, wrapped in a pronounced whisper.

Reaching out, the seaman clasped his lady's hand in his own, guiding her to return to the pool.

"Do you have control of this place, Daniel?" One more question slipped out before she could snatch it back. No sooner had her words left her lips, when an exotic butterfly found a place to rest on the tip Carolyn's nose. Her eyes nearly crossed in an attempt to view the curious creature.

"Never mind," she twittered. _'Why am I acting so silly?! I feel like a teenager.'_

Captain Gregg offered a finger to the perched butterfly who readily climbed aboard. "It's this place, Carolyn. It can restore and rejuvenate, making one feel younger." Extending his finger to the awaiting sky, bright blue wings took flight.

'_The Fountain of Youth_?' she wondered, taking in another intoxicating breath.

"No, Darling. Not the Fountain of Youth. That would be for humans. These waters are for the spirit." Cupping the liquid in one hand, he released it back through by opening his fingers.

"I could get used to being here." Carolyn dipped herself down and slinked her way closer to her ghost husband.

Dropping down into the waters with her, Daniel drew her in his arms, wrapping her tenderly and nuzzling his face into the nape of her neck. Shivers eagerly spread over her flesh as an extended sigh escaped from her lips.

"We can visit here whenever you desire, my love, but for now we should focus on infusing you with my energies," he helped himself to her inviting earlobe that lightly lingered with the previous evening's perfume.

"W-what do we do?" Her voice came wet with desire. She skimmed a finger over his lips and down his beard.

"Just relax… Carolyn, and… I will do the rest." He reflexed a swallow trying to regain focus.

Squeezing shut his eyes the captain came under a most rigid concentration. Waves of bright light expanded throughout the pool, making it appear luminous. Becoming translucent, he slipped his wife inside of his being, bringing them into a oneness. The pool's luminous glow surrendered its watery boundaries, permeating Carolyn's spirit like a smooth champagne.

Their separation was as fluid as their union.

"There. How do feel, my dear?" Reserving his evaluation.

"I feel… powerful," she said while rubbing her finger tips and thumb together. One snap birthed a fireball into her small hand.

"Yes, I can see that," he said and doused the fire with his hand. "No frivolous experimenting, Carolyn. You are playing with fire, literally."

"What _can_ we play then?" she teased, giving him a deviant smirk.

"What ever will I do with you, woman!" In a low growl, Daniel swung his wife around securing his mouth over hers.

"There you two are! I'm so glad that I finally found you." The spirit pastor floated harmlessly above them but kept his eyes plastered on the pair.

With a start, the couple jumped in reaction to the unanticipated visitor.

"My goodness, I thought that I might find you here. Why are you two dawdling," he asked while he crossed his arms and tapped his foot on an invisible surface.

"Edmond!" Daniel's voice came crashing along with a clap of thunder. Carolyn bowed her head and snickered. "Don't you _ever_ knock before intruding on a private sanctum?!"

"I-intruding? A-am I intruding? Oh dear! Are you… again? M-my apologies. Maybe you two need a… vacation." His words stumbling and his tongue fumbling.

"Maybe we just need some _privacy_!" Daniel barked and slapped water up in the preacher's direction. Carolyn tried a failed attempt at stifling a snort.

"I followed you over here, Edmond." General Ito appeared next to the pastor who buried his face into his hands.

"Oh dear!" Edmond lamented.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Ito motioned his hand to Daniel and Carolyn in the water. "Is this a party? This is not time for a party." The general shot up an eyebrow and rested knuckles on his hips like his friend.

"This is my private sanctum!" Daniel's temper ratcheted up another two notches. "No one is allowed here unless expressly invited!" The seaman bellowed with more thunder claps accompanied by bolts of lighting.

"M-maybe we should go, Daniel. I'm getting hungry," Carolyn said as chuckles sputtered from her pursing lips.

Releasing his friends from a ghostly glare, the seaman turned hard about.

"Very well, Dear. Let us go home." He offered an arm to Carolyn who secured both hands on her husband. The husband and wife faded from view.

General Ito and Pastor Edmond fell into a brief silence before their thoughts found form.

"General, I believe that we may be getting the cold shoulder treatment for the time being," Edmond rubbed his arms as if he were already feeling Daniel's chill.

"Not the first time and probably won't be the last." Ito shrugged both shoulders and vanished.

"Hey! Wait for me!" The clergy stepped into his disappearing act.

—-

"Oh, Martha! This is wonderful!" Carolyn smacked her lips and devoured another spoonful from the plate sitting in front of her. By this time, army rations would have looked like a gourmet meal to Carolyn.

"It's just some red flannel hash, Mrs. Gregg. But I'll bet that you're pretty hungry by now." Giving a glance to the kitchen clock, Martha noticed how late it had become.

Grocery bags caught the expectant wife's attention. "What's in the bags, Martha?" Carolyn paused and pointed her finger toward the mystery.

"These?" The housekeeper walked over to take hold of the brown paper bags.

With a mouth full of hash, the wife nodded.

Martha's bright face flattened to a dulled expression. "Ghost snacks." She pulled two twin packs of potato chips into the air.

"Thank you, Martha!" A polite disembodied voice called.

One chip bag floated over to the table to join Carolyn.

"Come out, come out, Edmond," she chirped.

With a rip, the tantalizing chip bag opened. Chips crunched as the preacher appeared next to Carolyn. Seeing an irresistible opportunity, she grabbed a handful for herself.

The preacher's eyebrows drew together, but only for a moment.

"So where is your husband, my dear?" Edmond's hand dove into the bag of chips but his eyes examined the ceiling.

Carolyn laid down her spoon. Her pleasant expression melted like warming ice cubes. She could feel the muscles in her neck and shoulders tighten.

"He's where he always goes when he needs to _think," _she huffed and returned her attention back to the hash.

—-

Positioned at his binnacle Captain Gregg viewed the coastline through the eyepiece that captured no target. His mind was off in a different heading. Multiple headings in fact.

'_Prepare for all unexpected possibilities._ _How can one prepare for what cannot be anticipated?!'_

_"_Blast!_" _With one hand, the sea spirit spun the scope with a force that equaled his frustration.

"You have yet to find your peace, my friend." Hands at his side, the Samurai spirit appeared and greeted the seaman with a bow.

Daniel returned the greeting with his own bow, albeit a rather stiff one.

"No. My peace is hinged on the ending of this nightmare," he said, bringing a fist to his chin. "I will do what I must to keep my family safe…"

Ito's warrior features softened knowing the weight his friend carried. "Then we pray that this will end well."

The wind outside of the cottage picked up and gathered strength. The captain and general materialized onto the cabin's balcony which groaned its discontent. Shingles from the rooftop peeled off and tossed about in the gale. In the distance, dark storm clouds stretched forth crooked fingers over the ocean, reaching for their prey to grasp. Gull Cottage.

"It's Vanessa, alright!" The sea captain's voice rose as he set face to the threatening storm.

"I know what to do, but you must go, friend!" The Samurai leader stood as strong as a ship's mast against the gale force winds that buffeted his robust form.

With a curt nod but no eye contact, Daniel dematerialized. _'Let's get this over with, witch!"_

—


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

"Thar she blows," Martha remarked in a voice that lacked any enthusiasm. The housekeeper was trying to make light of a situation that was anything but light. Three sets of spectator eyes kept watch on the storm clouds looming in the distance. The gap between Gull Cottage and the incoming tempest decreased by the minute. Groaning winds preceding the storm indicated the impeding destination. Trees presented rigid bows where limbs collided with one another, some giving way and breaking off. Kindling wood littered the front yard and walkway joining scraps of shingles helplessly ripped from the roof. The white widow's walk disclosed its age, at having seen one too many weather tantrums when an entire section of railing splintered and collapsed.

With arms crossed Carolyn's hands rubbed her biceps up and down. She was giving herself a rigorous hug. The sensation of bugs crawling on her skin was becoming maddening. Almost as maddening as waiting for the next move of the sea wench, Vanessa.

General Ito appeared in their midst. "It is time! We must take positions!"

The call to battle sounded for the group of non-military personnel.

"Where's… Daniel?" Carolyn's voice staggered through the salt-drenched air. Her skin still crawled but now even more so.

"He is where he needs to be and you need to be asleep, Mrs. Gregg-san." Ito's voice grew softer.

"I-I'm ready, General," Carolyn nodded her consent but shot a glance at Martha and Edmond.

With a wave of the Samurai's hand, the ghost wife gave herself over to sleep. Being both a warrior and a gentleman, Ito transported her to the master cabin and laid her on the bed as Captain Gregg had requested. The sea captain developed a solid trust in the General that had been forged over their many years of association.

'_Is heavier with child than she looks,_' he whispered to himself while squinting one eye.

—-

"Martha, you need to go the moment it's clear and get the kids. Take them far away from here!" Edmond shook his wobbly hands in her direction.

"I've got it, Pastor! Now _you_ go!" The housekeeper untied her apron, throwing it over a random chair.

Grabbing his bag of potato chips, Edmond appeared by Ito's side in the bedroom.

"Ready, Ito?" He blinked once, then twice.

"Hai." The affirmation sounded starched and pressed.

Eyes to the ceiling, Edmond raised both hands to his mouth and called out.

"Okay, boys, a-anytime now!"

Angel wings. Long sleek blades of silver that gave flight. Individual feathers glistened from radiant light given off by the Heavenly Hosts. Garments of white ebbed and flowed with life. Each fluid move spoke of Grace. Swords blazing in white flames stood at the ready inside the grip of sure hands. In their wake danced echos of praise and majesty from standing in the presence of the Most High God. In stature, both towered above the two story dwelling. These two angelic beings took guard positions in front of Gull Cottage.

Edmond and Ito stared up at the pair from the cabin balcony. Ito bowed while Edmond gawked and chomped his chips.

Carolyn's spirit ascended from her slumbering form. She turned an eye on her unborn child. '_Daniel and I should be getting ready for our baby to be born. We should be buying furniture and taking birthing classes, not defending our lives against some hag out of the past!' _She stiffened at her own unyielding thoughts. '_Blasted hormones!_'

"We must go," Ito implored.

The predetermined mission was about to commence.

Edmond breathed a prayer.

—

"Come now, witch! Have you lost track of me already?" Captain Gregg glowered as he jolted past the storm in the opposite direction. The sea captain charted a course away from his home and the family he swore to protect.

The approaching wall cloud stopped in its path. A single pale figure emerged from a dark mist that was redolent of rank and wet death.

"Of course not, Daniel dear. I've been expecting this. You want to lead me away from your little family. We can play it your way… for now." The sea witch surveyed the newly appointed guardians of Gull Cottage. A brittle frown of disdain spawned on her lips.

Whirling about, Vanessa back handed a lightning bolt in the seaman's direction which he easily deflected with a swing of his sword.

"Shall we?" He bowed and continued his flight.

"A game of tag? Oh, you know how I love to play games, don't you. I believe that makes you… _it_!" She chortled and pointed a finger at him.

Heading further up the coast, Daniel chose an area where much of Schooner Bay's population could be avoided. '_One more quick check for stragglers.' _He scouted around.

While spying out the immediate vicinity, another bolt of lightning shot by, slicing Captain Gregg's arm and side. Hiding a wince, he had to allow her the one hit. The sea ghost needed the siren to believe that she had the upper hand. A misleading leverage that he intended to utilize at the right time.

"Oh, you're not going to let me win that easily, are you, Daniel? Aren't you in good form today, dearest?" She clicked her tongue in a tsk.

"I am _always_ in good form!" He drew forth a large fireball and hurled it at the woman, who dodged out of the path. She chuckled a smug yet playful laugh.

"I like your little family, Daniel. _Really_, I do. They're so… human." Her tone reeked of sarcasm.

Vanessa's dark misshapen clouds followed the siren's voice obediently, bringing forth needling sheets of icy rain. With a swipe of her hand, churning winds ripped their way across rocks and cliffs howling through any cracks defying their path. The storm battered the wayward sea captain where mercy was not granted. He was sent careening backwards head over heels.

Anchoring his fingers, the captain regained his footing. "You leave my family out of this, Vanessa! They have nothing to do with your thirst for vengeance against me!" he spat the words out through gritted teeth. His wrath encircled every syllable while bracing against her freezing tempest.

"Oh, really?" She openly baited the invitation.

He RSVP'd a snide growl.

Daniel opened his arms wide and swept them to the front of his muscular torso, summoning his own equally menacing squall. The sky smeared black with the bruise of dense rage-filled clouds sending jagged white flashes in multiple directions. Sharp jets of thin icy cold projectiles pelted the siren by the thousands causing her to recoil, raising arms and hands to protect herself from the piercing ice-cold daggers.

"Your family has _ev-er-y-thing_ to do with it!" She stretched the word out from behind her make-shift shield and hell-bent eyes.

Spinning her hands in a circle, a blinding water spout took form above the ocean. In a clap, she sent the vortex down a wild wind-swept path at the sea farer. Thrusting his sword front and center, Daniel sliced through the rotating wall of wind like renting an old garment that had seen better days.

Fury spread over the woman's face in a wild fire as she hurled a flaming knife after him. A moment later, he bobbed out of its trajectory.

Utilizing the turbulent sea below, Captain Gregg called forth a brutally powerful storm surge to slam the siren into the opposing waves that rose and crashed behind her.

The siren shrieked her displeasure from being crushed and swallowed up in the tempestuous seawater.

"I'm giving you fair warning you, Vanessa! **Stay** **away** from my family!" A feeling of warmth ran down Daniel's side. The ocean air around him felt unusually heavy, but he paid neither any mind.

Vanessa darted out from beneath the cascading waters into the frigid winter air, reclaiming her position of battle. Her eyes darkened and her long hair dripped a salt water tangled mess. She resembled a drenched rat in a tired wig.

"You can't keep them safe forever! I'll _always_ be one step ahead of you." Her voice spat wet and cold with the chill from a decade of winter winds. Reaching a hand backwards, she summoned a sword from inside of her storm. Black as night, it tumbled into her waiting hand.

Before she could fully raise the weapon, the ghost captain lunged at her. Vocalizing a thunderous fury, his blade came crashing into hers. It was more than enough to catch the sea witch off balance, sending her and the black blade plunging into the dark ocean depths.

Lightning spread white over the shadow blackened skies as a heavy rain bombarded the seaman. Experience had taught him well to watch and wait over the place where Vanessa fell. Waves that had tossed, now began to spin clockwise with increasing speed. There, a whirlpool spun to life beneath him, pulling on anything within its reach… including Daniel Gregg. In a single shot, he torpedoed up and out of its range.

Vanessa followed behind but lost sight of her prey.

Over Daniel's forehead, wet curls sagged. His vision began to blur and his balance came into question. '_What the devil?!' _His side screamed with unrelenting pain.

Finding her quarry, she abruptly stopped and stared. "I-I don't believe it!" The siren spirit dropped her hands and widened her stare.

"Now what are you babbling about!?" He grimaced while unknowingly clutching his ribs with a sodden hand.

The seducing spirit inched her way closer. "Look at your hand, fool!" She pointed to his side.

Bringing it eye level, more red liquid oozed down his long fingers and ran over his palm.

_Blood_. Red human blood. The gift of life that was not seen after death now covered his hand and ran profusely down his side.

'_No! Not now! Why is this happening now of all times?!' _Daniel groaned to himself the disbelief of what he was experiencing. An inconvenient moment where his human traits had returned for a visit.

He exhaled an actual breath he hadn't realized he was holding. The motion pained his throbbing side where blood still ran freely, soaking and caking into his shirt.

Only one option remained open to the seaman.

"Ito! Now!" he called out, but the ghost doubled over in agony.

'_Can't let Carolyn see me like t-this…_' Forcing himself to straighten, the ghost captain kept pressure to his wet sticky wound.

On cue, Carolyn and Ito appeared about 15 yards behind the seaman. In true Samurai style, Ito smoothly slid his sword free from its sheath. Images of lightning reflected from the polished mirrored surface of the steel blade.

Although the ghost wife prepared for this moment to transfer her husbands spirit energy, she was unprepared to see him injured, dripping human blood and growing pale. Her stomach flipped over and her hands were rendered ice cold. Whose face was more pale, hers or his? Fear for her husband crippled the ghost wife.

It was just the right opportunity that Vanessa had hoped for. An opportunity too good to let pass unused.

"At last," she beamed.

Targeting her sight on Carolyn, she released a vocalized hypersonic shockwave that resounded from deep inside of her siren framework.

Priorities. Choices. Decisions. What are the things that flash through a mans mind at such turning points as these? Is thinking and evaluation truly involved or was it purely a reflex action. Perhaps it all comes down to something as simple as… love.

Captain Daniel Gregg. Already dead and yet so much… _alive_.

One moment in time. One leap. One action that changed… everything.

Daniel thrusted himself into the path of the sonic wave, bringing the whole of it into his already compromised spirit body. His part-human cells tore and ruptured their membranes, inflicting further injury. The impact was too great. His damage was too severe. Down towards the open sea, Daniel Gregg was plummeting. Flashes of darkness filled his vision before all was swallowed into the dead hole of unconsciousness. His hands were grasping at the empty air surrounding him.

_'Carolyn…_' her name slipped weakly between his bruised lips.

Trembling violently, Carolyn unraveled. The pit in her stomach reached up and grabbed her throat. Her heart raced down a dead-end road, only to discover there was no way out. She was unable to make Daniel's spirit energy transfer in time. Their carefully construed plan ended.

"No!" A scream burst out of her lungs, she plunged into a nose dive towards Daniel's helpless body.

In a quick Samurai move, General Ito pulled her back, wrestling against her staunch resistance. "Let go of me! I have to help him! Don't you see!" She sobbed. But her safety was paramount. The Samurai had made a promise to the seaman. A promise that he was now reluctantly obligated to fulfill. Another wave of the warrior's hand and the ghost wife succumbed to sleep, her body once again being cradled by the Samurai leader. Vanishing, he brought them both back to Gull Cottage.

Cascading into the sea, Daniel's wrist was caught by a hand he could not see. The two spirits vanished.

After gently placing Carolyn back into her physical body, Ito returned to where the battle had raged between the two sea spirits. White fluffy clouds kissed blue skies while calm sparkling seas greeted the sword-wielding warrior. No sign of either spirits remained and he sensed nothing in the returning waters of the tide. The Asian General watched as seabirds darted about playing their games with the ocean waves. All was quiet once again on the shores of Schooner Bay. Lowering his sword, Ito floated aimlessly in the stillness and hung his head. The stillness that was present yesterday and the stillness that more than likely would be present the following day never spoke of the violence and loss of this day. If he were not already deceased the Samurai would have considered impaling himself on his sword at such dishonor.

—

"No, do not awaken her!" Ito threw his helmet to the floor revealing his Samurai topknot that stood erect on his head.

"Why on earth not, General?" Edmond presented his hands, palms up to the agitated Asian.

"The mission… failed." The warrior's voice rolled off as he walked the room. "She will be very upset. Let her rest. It is best for her and her child."

"Ito? What h-happened?" An array of emotions flitted across the clergy's face. Edmond wanted to lay a sympathetic hand on the man's shoulder, but his shorter height would prevent such an action.

"Gregg was injured during the battle. He was… bleeding human blood from his side. His wife…" Ito shook his head and rubbed one hand over his eyes.

'_I have failed.' _

"Oh, no. Oh, my. Where _is_ Daniel? Edmond wrung his hands and leaned in the direction of his almond-eyed friend.

Ito turned his face to the sea. "I do not know. The siren spirit spat out some kind of sonic blast wave." He swept a hand back and forth through the air. "The captain stepped in its path to protect his wife." The Japanese warrior brought his eye down to peer through the scope on the binnacle with a slim hope of spotting the seaman. "He was falling into the ocean last I saw. My men are conducting a search of the area." Straightening his posture, the General shut his eyes and shook his head once again. "I will not stop searching until he is found!" Ito slammed his sword back into its sheath. He would watch over the Gregg-Muir family until the sea captain returned. Disgrace wore on his neck like a lead chocker that strangled his long held Samurai heritage.

Edmond sat on the edge of the bed just beyond the sleeping ghost wife. "This could be bad, Ito."

"Hai," the general responded without facing the preacher.

—-

Waves from the incoming tide rolled up and crashed with repeated thunder upon shores dotted with shells that toppled over fine beige sand. The sound was soothing to Captain Gregg's ears: a rhythm he was all too familiar with, like a song that strummed the strings of his heart. Instinctively, he sought to roll over in the bed to claim the only other who could play those same heart strings. His Carolyn. A pain that pierced like a blade reeled him back, setting the seaman to lean against overstuffed feather pillows. The pungent odor of old mildew and mold from passing years assaulted his senses causing his nose to wrinkle. Slowly, Daniel opened his eyes to a dimly lit room.

'_This is not my bed OR my room. Where am I?' _

He felt something out of the ordinary encircling his wrists and ankles. Restraining energy bands, he observed in silent thought. '_What happened?_' Taking inventory of his memory, the answer was clear. '_Vanessa…' _he repulsed while playing back the images in his thoughts. Every detail of the battle stood up and begged his attention. '_Where's Carolyn? Is-is she safe_?' The last image to replay was one of Ito pulling his wife away. Her screams echoed in his ears. Closing his eyes, a sharp twinge of grief played over his face. '_If she is safe, then that is all that matters,_' Daniel attempted to console his troubled heart. Glancing down, he took notice that his shirt had been removed. Cloth bandages were wrapped snuggly around his chest and arm. Black and purple bruising blotted his abdomen and ribcage curtesy of Vanessa's sound wave.

"I wouldn't move too much, darling." A tiny pair of shoes entered the bedroom. "You're liable to tear the stitches that I put into that corporeal skin of yours. I must admit that it's been a very long time since I put that many stitches into someone. I may be out of practice, not to mention all of the bruising that you took. That was quite foolish, dear." Vanessa materialized the rest of the way showing a hand on her hip. She strolled her way over to a balcony door where tattered curtains kept much of the light from reaching in. With a wave of her hand, she flung the old curtains to the side allowing the sunlight to invade. "I also infused that sound wave with jellyfish venom. It does nasty things to humans and spirits alike. I imagine that's why you were out for so long."

The sea captain offered her the ultimate insult of silence plus a sound scowl.

"Besides, Daniel, dear, you'll find that the bands on your wrists are tethered to the bed. I doubt in your present condition that even you can break free," she drawled and plopped down on the side of the bed.

Giving a hard yank, Daniel tested her theory. The tether not only held fast, but it pulled his wrists up above his head, anchoring them to the large tarnished brass headboard. He clenched his teeth as the stitches pulled and stretched.

"What do you want, witch!?" he sneered as a trail of sweat dripped from his brow.

"Me? I just want to talk." Her eyes darted off to the open balcony. The tattered curtains danced with the ocean breeze.

"Tell me, dearest, do you _really_ believe that you can pull off walking among the humans as one of them? Hmmm?" Vanessa leaned over on one arm and pulled a red ripe apple from her skirt pocket. Opening her mouth, she secured a big bite. Juices from the apple flowed down the sides of her lips. She drug her slender fingers along the bottom edge of her mouth to wipe it away.

Daniel gave no response but thought that she reminded him of Eve from the Garden of Eden. He wondered if the spirit would offer him a bite of the apple next.

"I mean… just look at you." She swallowed the bite and gestured to his being. "Do you think that dressing like them and becoming solid like them can make you _one _of them? It's absurd!" She threw her free hand into the air. "You're a spirit! Your time as a human has come and gone."

"All thanks to you!" he shot back tugging on the tethered line that denied him any loosening of its hold.

"Regardless of how you died, you would still be a spirit by now." Vanessa gave a long look at the apple and laid it down on the bed. "What are you going to do, Daniel. Learn how to drive a car? Go to work every morning? Oh! Wait a minute! Let me guess," She teased. "You'll learn to drive a car and take your family on vacations? You, Daniel Gregg, a spirit who isolated himself for a hundred years will now suddenly become a productive member of society? Maybe you should start small with say… a picnic perhaps." Batting her eyes, the siren spirit made no attempt to cover her mockery. She tossed her ink black hair over a shoulder.

"Maybe _you_ should mind your own business, Vanessa. Speaking of clothing, I see that you still don the apparel of the spinster that you _are!_" he fired back.

The siren folded her arms across her chest. "Still using your sharp tongue, aren't you!" she snapped the words off.

"Give it up, Vanessa. You won't get under my skin anymore. I know who Carolyn and I are. Nothing you do or say will change that." A wry smile formed on his mouth. "If that means I learn to drive, then yes I _will_! And yes, we _will_ take family vacations! I _will_ walk among the humans and I _will_ be one of them!" He picked her taunting speculations apart like old dried up fruit on the vine.

"Well now, we'll just see about that… won't we." Her voice became eerily alluring.

Daniel found himself drawing back deeper into the pillows, an impossible hope that he could just fade out from the room.

Crawling across the bed on all fours, the siren spirit grabbed hold of Daniel's sore mouth pinching it between her thumb and two fingers, forcing a pucker to form.

Wide-eyed, the sea captain realized what she had in mind.

"You should rethink things, Darling. I can forgive you and we could start over. As your spirit mate, I can do things for you that no human ever can." Her voice seduced like only a siren could… and would. Her lips slithered close to his.

With a hard jerk, he yanked his face from her grip. "No! Not interested!"

"We'll give it more time, darling, for the idea to _sink in._" She lightly slapped his cheek. Vanessa stood and turned on a heel. She shifted her hips and sauntered out of the room, snickering loudly as she left.

The sea ghost turned his face away and spat. A bitter tang clung to the inside his mouth and set up house.

'_I must find a way to escape this place._' He bemoaned his plight.

—


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

'_Am I awake? Am I… home_?' Her head throbbed. Carolyn sat up, then stumbled her way to a stand nearly falling over in the process. She turned in a circle, her eyes straining to see.

'_Am I in the channel, in the link between myself and…?' _A moment of clarity surfaced.

"Daniel! No! Daniel! Where are you?! Daniel!" With clarity came tears. She remembered her husband… injured and falling. Her stomach twisted into a pretzel knot. Her thoughts spiraled down a tunnel of fear.

_'How could I have froze…when he needed me the most?!' _Carolyn's knees jellied.

All at once, Daniel sat bolt upright against the cold brass headboard. He became aware of Carolyn's presence. Fighting to focus, his mind swam like a frenzied school of baitfish above the hungry predator, Vanessa. Entering into their link, his appearance was faint, fading in and out.

"Carolyn! Quickly! You must push my spirit energy through our link and into my being!" He beckoned with words that slid into one another.

Relief met with questions. Her jaw dropped open while her mind raced over a blind track of inquiry.

"What happened to you? Why were you bleeding? Are those bandages? You're tied up!?"

"My love, I will gladly answer all of your questions once this is over! Send me my energy before this witch returns!" he urged her with thinning patience.

"Vanessa's holding you prisoner?!" Carolyn's jaw muscles stretched open further.

"Yes, now send my energy!"

"_Why_ is she holding you?! _What_ does she want with you?!" Her eyes shown with a deeper luster of green from the jealousy that screamed out behind them.

Some questions needed answers now, the seaman relented.

"My dear, the woman has changed her mind. She wants to make me her… pet poodle." He stiffened and frowned as the words sank in like quicksand.

"What!? That's my job!" Carolyn fumed. The words burning as they leapt from her tongue.

"And you may gladly have it, my love! Hurry!" Daniel's voice pleaded.

Her hands up, Carolyn sought to concentrate her efforts. Palms facing each other, a few sparks manifested then fizzled. Closing her eyes, she again tried to focus only to have the same outcome.

"Blast!" Again she tried. "Double blast!" Her nerves were tangled into a bird's nest soup.

Carolyn's mind was absent. Her heart pounded against the wall of her chest. In her thoughts, the torment of Vanessa became unrelenting. She could see the siren laughing her scorn at the ghost wife and fawning over Daniel. Carolyn's fingers curled into fists as her mind mulled over disturbing images. The worst image of all was one of him under the siren's spell in a bedroom scene. The ghost wife's slim badge of courage was being thrown to the wolves for the fiercest of testing.

"No, I can't let that happen!" Her hands trembled like a wino, just hopping on the wagon.

Carolyn's face reached up to her husband. Daniel's eyes fell shut, releasing a sigh. She had given up.

"I-I'm not done, yet!" She pursed her lips together and squared her shoulders. "Get ready, Daniel."

"What?" He raised both eyebrows.

Inhaling a hastily caught breath, the ghost wife placed her palms on her husband's chest and shoved as hard as possible. Quickly passing through his side of the link, both spirits were propelled into Daniel's corporeal body inside of Vanessa's hideout. The two became one. She encountered his pain. All of it. Tight stitches that pulled made her wince. The energy bands that felt exceedingly warm, almost hot. The line that tethered his movement, unyielding in its grip. Then, lastly, there was the anguish that tortured his mind with scenarios of becoming the siren's unwilling pet. The future with Carolyn and his family would become nonexistent, leaving him a toy to played with.

'_Quickly, Carolyn! Try again! Release my energy!_' A conversation was being held on the inside of the trapped sea captain.

'_Wait!_' she responded in a huff. '_She has you tied to a bed?! Do you know what this woman has in mind?!' _She snarled through tight lips and teeth. Fury had laid a hot bed of fresh coals under Carolyn's feet.

Before the captain could calm his wife, the siren spirit materialized into the room. She had changed her apparel to a more modern look of an off-the-shoulder white peasant blouse that landed just above her navel paired with a buttoned down blue jean mini skirt left undone at the bottom, displaying most of her lean legs and thighs. Her long dark hair flowed over her bare shoulders. She ran a finger back and forth along the inside waistband of her skirt that rested low on her hips, each time stopping just short of the buttons.

Captain Gregg swallowed hard at the lump in his throat.

'_That…that hussy!_' Carolyn boiled, taking in short chopped breaths. Hooding her green eyes, she readied herself for a confrontation that should have frightened her, but suddenly didn't.

'_Don't do it, Carolyn_!' Daniel attempted to hold her back.

Crawling back onto the bed on all fours, Vanessa untied the top of her blouse allowing the maximum amount of cleavage to be seen.

Daniel pulled at the energy band tether, but it held fast. Similar to a fish caught in a net, the ghost captain squirmed with a vain hope of obtaining his freedom.

Straddling his abdomen, Vanessa leaned into the seaman's face forcing his head into her bosoms. Shutting her eyes, a sigh escaped from her lips.

"Do you remember this, my love?" She expelled in a voice that sounded like a hot air balloon with a hot leak.

'_That home wrecker! Sssslut!_' The words sizzled on Carolyn's lips comparable to a slab of cold butter hitting a searing hot frying pan.

Daniel feigned a growl in order to mislead the tramp. Having been in a multitude of awkward scenarios, this had to be the worst, yet. His infuriated wife on the inside, while his face was buried in the bosoms of his ex-fiance on the outside. The captain longed to be anywhere else but here. Even entertaining Claymore's antics would have been preferable.

"Just one kiss, my love and you will have everything you could ever hope for." Her sing-song voice hung heavy in the air revolving around Daniel's head like a stale intoxicating perfume. Motioning his head back up, Vanessa pinched his lips into a pucker.

Daniel could feel the lightheadedness taking hold. His cognitive ability slipping out of his grasp. The struggle for control becoming more futile with each passing minute.

'Caro…!' Her broken name spilled out from his thoughts. The emptiness almost complete.

'_Daniel, wake up!' _Her words cried out through his fog that muddied thick as pea soup.

Carolyn was experiencing all that he did, but she was immune to the effects that were now taking her husband over. Piece by piece, the siren was pulling him away.

"Just one kiss and you **_will_** eat of my words. You shall be mine… **forever.**" Vanessa's soft voice lured her prey along a lust saturated path of her will.

The seaman's pupils expanded to the outer edges of his irises, crowding out the familiar cerulean blue. A glassy layer spread over the entire surface of his sight.

Her lips drew close to his, almost touching with their toxic blend.

"F-for…ever…" Daniel murmured, his mind swaggered in a dense haze of the siren's web of deception. His vigorous attempts to escape were now stilled.

'_Snap out of it, Daniel, Please!' _Seeing no response from her captain, Carolyn arrived at a decision driven by a sense of sheer desperation. It was act now or lose him… altogether… forever.

"Mine…" Vanessa's bottom lip brushed up against his.

'_Oh, no, you don't! This stops now!'_ The ghost wife exploded out of Daniel's corporeal body shoving the siren backward and away from her husband.

"Yours forever? Think again, sister!" Her thinned green eyes transforming into surging green flames. A solid back handed slap from the ghost wife sent the siren tumbling to the floor in a mess of cascading dark hair. Leaping down, Carolyn pinned Vanessa to the floor boards.

"You want _my_ husband to eat _your_ words and be forever yours? I don't think so! Here, why don't _you_ eat what I have for you!?" A blazing green fireball seamlessly flamed to life in Carolyn's palm. "Eat **_this,_** sea witch!" She forced the siren's mouth open and shoved the fireball down her throat.

The burning sensation in Vanessa's gullet produced a scream from the sea siren. The searing fire disabled her shockwave effect.

Scrunching his eyes, Daniel shook his head repeatedly. Vanessa's web still obscured his thinking. Eventually, his eyes returned to their normal blue as he regained a measure of his compromised faculties.

"Carolyn!" He struggled harder to break free. The brass bed clanking and creaking in return.

The ghost wife couldn't hear her name being called. She isolated her concentration and continued her assault against siren spirit.

"Did you like that, you she-serpent? Here, have a second helping." Another green fireball came to life with Carolyn's hand applying a force-feed. Vanessa reached up and latched onto a handful of the wife's hair. Carolyn grabbed her wrist, sinking her fingernails into the siren.

_Never_ say never and _always_ expect the unexpected.

"Honey, I'm hooooome!" A disembodied voice collected all of the attention in the room and tucked it into his back pocket.

A healed and whole Bobby Muir materialized out of nowhere. With both hands he reached over and pulled a stunned Carolyn off of the singed and frazzled Vanessa.

"B-bobby?" Carolyn's eyes grew more round as she wrestled to free herself from his hold on her forearms.

"Miss me, honey?" Bobby smashed his lips against Carolyn's mouth leading her to emit a squelched yelp. Daniel snapped to attention despite the restraining bands digging into his wrists.

"Muir!" Anger assailed like razor wire, sharpening the ferocity in the captain's voice.

"C'mom, honey. We've got places to go and people to see!" His eyes trailed over toward a different room.

With a wink and a smile, Bobby smeared on another steamy kiss. The vinegary taste stung bitter in Carolyn's mouth.

"Muir!" The seaman shot the name out like a canon ball as his thunder boomed in the background.

Kicking and flailing, Carolyn fought back against the hands that stayed clamped to her arms. Bobby pulled on her with the intent of dragging his widow away. Carolyn spied Daniel out of the corner of her eye. One tear trickled down the side of her flushed face.

It has been said that when someone is looking for trouble, they will find it. And Muir was stirring a hornet's nest… x 100 or…1000.

Captain Gregg's eyes sheered over to solid black spheres that glistened with his fury. Veins popped from his thick neck as his voice raged, echoing throughout the manor causing walls to vibrate and lose hunks of plaster. Thunder, lightning, and hail pummeled the already weather-worn house. In the respite of his private sanctum, the waters in the pool boiled with a brightness that could blind. Taking in deep breaths, the bright light of the pool surged into his corporeal spirit body. The waters in the respite pool drained away.

The sea captain loosed a fiendish laugh while stretching every muscle in his newly invigorated body, breaking the restraining energy bands into pieces. He motioned the bands to reassemble and fixate on Vanessa, including her mouth. The injuries he sustained faded away.

The blackened sphered eyes turned to a quaking Bobby Muir. Releasing Carolyn, Bobby disappeared from sight. Daniel vanished in hot pursuit of the ex-husband.

Try as he may, Muir found himself trapped in the seaside manor. Lightning bolts kept him from making an exit. It was just a matter of time before the enraged sea captain would find him.

"Oh… oh no!" His hands fumbled along a wall where panic had found a new home.

"Did you think that I would let you go after what you did!? Are you that much of an idiot!?" Captain Gregg seethed. His hand shot up and grabbed Muir's throat.

"W-wait! Please! You-you gotta listen to me! This-this was all a ruse f-for Vanessa! Lemme explain! T-the kiss was her idea. She thought that Carolyn would come looking for you." The dry words croaked from his mouth like gritty sandpaper. "I way trying to get Carolyn away from her!"

Captain Gregg dropped the spirit into a corner of the room. "Make it fast, Muir! _You_ don't have much time left," he boasted a gleeful smile and cracked his knuckles.

Muir coughed and sputtered his words while rubbing his throat. "It's Vanessa. She came to get me from the compound. She said that she had something for me to do. She-she fixed my wounds and snuck me out. Cripes, how was I to know what she was up to?! She only told me her new plan on the way over here!" Muir coughed more.

"What? The plans to make me her unwilling pet?!" Daniel gagged over the words and swallowed back against the bitter bile that rose unbidden in his throat. "Tell me why I should not just remove your head from your shoulders!"

"Because I know Vanessa's plans. There's… more. She has plans for Carolyn."

Captain Gregg froze in mid-movement with eyes that bulged.

"She has plans for the baby too." Bobby wagged his head from side to side while bending over with his palms propped on his knees.

The rich blue hue returned to the seaman's eyes. "What plans!? Tell me what that witch has in mind!" Daniel snagged the lapels of the Muir's shirt and gave him a sound shake.

"I am! I am!" Muir pulled his shirt away from the captain's grip. "Once she has you back, she plans on taking the baby after it's born." He pointed to the old crib that sagged against the wall. "I-I keep Carolyn and the kids, taking them as far away from Gull Cottage as I can. She thinks that you and her will raise the baby and be_ happily ever after_." His fingers curled into quotation marks. "Vanessa has even talked about taking over Carolyn's body until after the baby is born. She's obsessed with getting _your_ child!"

Clenching his gut, Captain Gregg felt the sudden cold of an icicle begin to form in the center of his being. In the blink of an eye, it felt like an iceberg was touring his core.

"You're lying! That's…insane!" Daniel shivered at the thought.

"I-I'm not lying, but I wish I were… The chick is nuts! She killed you, didn't she?" Bobby trudged over to the whicker rocker and sat down.

"So why are you telling _me_ all of this? What do you have to gain from it?" The sea ghost kept a steady gaze on his wife's ex. Muir could straddle an ethical fence like an alley cat on his nightly rounds.

"Because… because as much as I hate you, I would hate myself even more if I allowed Carolyn's child to be taken from her. Don't get me wrong, sure I was tempted. I still love my wife."

Daniel hid a cringe, but said nothing.

"Carolyn's children mean everything to her. Maybe she wouldn't know, but I would." Muir lowered his head and rubbed his temples.

"Vanessa will do no such thing!" Drawing his fingers into a fist, the old crib collapsed in on itself. "She is being held by restraining bands and not going anywhere."

Bobby Muir bolted to his feet. "Not the same ones she used on you?" His dimpled chin dropped.

"The very same." Daniel stated in a matter-of-fact tone.

"No, No! They won't work on her! She made those herself and has complete control over them. You've been duped!"

"What!?" Captain Gregg roared his disbelief.

Vanishing, they both rematerialized in the room where Vanessa was last seen. Flipping the bed, Daniel searched for the siren and his wife. Empty. Nothing remained except the bed itself and billowing curtains.

"Carolyn!" Daniel shouted and searched for her with his senses.

'_I'm right here, dear._' Carolyn's giggling was less then amusing for her distraught husband. He found her at the very edge of their empathic link.

'_And just how long have you been here_?' The internal conversation picked back up.

'_Since you took off after Bobby. I heard everything. Knowing Bobby, I think he's telling the truth._' She gazed down at her flat midriff knowing her child was safe inside of her body being guarded by Heavenly Hosts. The knowledge kept her 'butterflies' at bay.

'_I see_,' he rocked on both heels and tsk'd her.

"You!" A disembodied voice baring a foreign accent called out. "You lose something?"

General Ito materialized into the room holding his sword to Vanessa's seared, scorched throat. Several other warriors had lines of energy bands that bound the spirit fast. Her mouth was gagged beyond her siren abilities.

"Ito! Thank goodness! How did you know?" Waves of relief washed over the shore of the seaman's face.

"After seeing that your wife could not help you in battle, I came up with another plan." Turning to a materialized Carolyn, the Samurai bowed to her. "Please forgive an old warrior his foolishness, Mrs. Gregg-San. Battle ground is no place for you."

"I am in complete agreement, General," Daniel interjected, leveling his gaze at Carolyn.

It tempted the ghost wife to argue a point, but instead she decided to put it behind her. Leaning over, she planted a peck on the Samurai's cheek.

"Thank you, General Ito." She bowed.

Warriors smirked when their commander smiled and blushed. Speaking abruptly in Japanese, he called them to silence.

"With new plan I waited at your private sanctum and watched. Your wife could not help you. I knew that you would have to find a way to draw more power. When the pool bubbled and drained, I followed it here. Waiting until the time was right, we ambushed the spirit and placed different restraints on her. She will not escape this time." Ito shook his finger at the siren who rolled bored eyes to the ceiling.

"The honor of my family is restored." The General found his peace.

"My friend, your honor has never been in question as far as I am concerned. I am in your debt." Daniel bowed to the general who returned the bow.

Captain Gregg turned a warm eye to his wife. In silent communication, she reflected it back.

"My love, I believe that it is well-past time that you returned to your body at our home. I will escort the warriors and their prisoners to the compound and join you shortly thereafter."

Carolyn placed her hands on her flat abdomen. "This time I must agree with you. I need to go home, Daniel."

Turning away from any onlookers, he placed a well wetted kiss on Carolyn's mouth. Weak-kneed, she faded from view back into their link.

"Next stop? Home." Carolyn drew in a deep sigh.

—-

"Muir!" The seaman barked and lifted his eyes to see the man waiting in the corner. "You're coming with us!"

"Yeah, I figured as much." Thrusting hands into his pockets, Bobby Muir slouched, losing an inch or two from his usual height. "Take good care of Carolyn, will ya? She deserves it." A guard appeared and took Muir away, but not before Daniel slugged Muir in the chops.

—-

Returning to the compound, Vanessa fought to speak, motioning toward Daniel Gregg.

Ito took him to the side. "This woman wants to say something to you, Captain. I will leave it up to you whether you wish to hear her or not."

A few seconds felt like a few years to contemplate the matter.

'_Blast!_'

"Remove her gag, but keep your weapons positioned on her." He walked up to the spirit. His face skimmed the edge of brutality. "What do _you_ want, now!?" He snapped at her.

A serpentine smile drug from ear to ear on the siren. "It's not over you know, Daniel darling. I'll be back." She smirked.

Spinning around and walking away, Daniel muttered. "This is pointless."

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Daniel Gregg. I will hunt you and your little family down." Her smile morphed into a scowl. Low thunder rumbled in the distance. "Those who are heavy of heart will be heavy in hand." Vanessa bled out a haunting threat.

Ito ran his blade closer to the spirit's neck. Contact was made.

Captain Gregg's pace slowed to a halt. He whipped around to face the she devil that he once sought to marry. "Let her speak, Ito."

A smug grin took perch on her plump pale lips like a hungry vulture selecting its prey.

"I will ever pursue you and your little family. I will take what has always belonged to me! You cannot keep them safe forever… I will always be one step ahead of you…Dearest."

Worry lined the seaman's forehead and marched across in formation.

"Then you leave me no choice, witch!" He narrowed his gaze at her.

With the speed of an athlete, Daniel sprinted his way past the guards. Lunging at the sea siren, he plunged his hand deep inside of her head. Vanessa tore the air in a pained scream and collapsed to the floor. With hooded eyes the ghost captain opened his balled fist to reveal what he had sought. Gray matter bounced and jiggled in his palm.

"What do you have, captain?" Ito massaged his bearded chin. The warrior's curiosity was peaked.

"These are _all _of Vanessa's memories." Daniel's eyes flickered with a flame that consumed the gray matter, leaving nothing behind. Not even ash.

"When she wakes up, she will have no memories whatsoever." Captain Gregg's eyes penetrated his Japanese friend. "I will do what I must to keep my family safe."

"Hai. What should we tell this siren spirit, Captain?"

"I don't care, Ito. Just don't tell her who she has been. Leave Carolyn and I out of it. Give her a new name and keep her isolated from everyone that knew her!" Daniel resumed his brisk walk out of the restricted area then faded from the compound.

"Where are you going, Gregg-San?"

"I'm going home, Ito, where I belong!" His words echoed in the chamber.

The General slid the Samurai helmet from head as Vanessa was rising up on wobbling knees. Her eyes roamed aimlessly around the chamber.

"Where am I?" She quizzed and looked down at her clothes. Her thoughts seem to crumble before her words could form.

"Who-who am I? I can't seem to remember my name." Visually, the siren searched the room. Was her name written on the wall?

"I-I don't know." She lost her balance and fell into a tall legged chair.

Ito stooped down to look her in the eye. A small part of him felt a trace of pity for the girl.

"Your name is… is Molly. Molly Compton." The warrior nodded as if it were her name all along.

She smiled in return and kicked her legs back and forth under the chair like a child.

"Molly? I like that name. Molly…"

—-

Daniel Gregg nudged a broken board that lay at his feet on the widow's walk atop Gull Cottage. An artificial sigh escaped as he surveyed the damages incurred to his home. He would give attention to the damage of his family first and foremost, though. All else could wait. How would they see him, now, after all that had taken place? How would Carolyn see him? He vanished and reappeared on the balcony of the master cabin. There it lay, flat on the decking. The old ship's wheel that stood proudly at the helm of the cottage had been ripped from its foundation and cast down to its present state of disregard. What once masterfully guided a massive ship and crew lay useless before him. Daniel ran an unsteady hand over the spindles. He felt much the same as the old ships wheel. Useless. His ghostly heart, riddled with shame.

"This wasn't your fault, you know, my son." Edmond materialized behind the crouching sea captain.

"Can you be sure of that, Edmond? Because I am most certainly not convinced."

"I _am_ sure, Daniel. Vanessa is an adult and makes her own decisions. You can't be held responsible for her choices, son. Enough blame gets passed around as it is. No need to take on baggage that doesn't really belong to you." The clergy began his predictable chip munching.

Captain Gregg smirked, not having to look up to know what the crunching sound was.

"I have something for you that may help." Pastor Edmond offered. Pausing his chip consumption, he dug through a deep pocket in his robe. "Hold out your hand and close your eyes, Daniel."

"I'm not a child, Edmond. Just give me what you have." Squinting an eye, the sea ghost was in no mood for a game.

"It's a surprise. Indulge me, Captain!" Edmond's face hung with the disappointment of a 5 year old.

The seaman did as requested. The Pastor emptied his hand into Daniel's.

"There, now. Open them." Edmond's cheery smiled returned to its usual place.

In the captain's hand, mixed with salt and potato chip fragments, lay the original set of rings that Daniel gave to his wife at their first and second wedding.

"But… how?!" His mouth gaped open and his eyes collected moisture.

"The Muir boy cast them into the sea. A fish was waiting to catch them, compliments of the Almighty."

Daniel lifted his eyes to Heaven. '_Thank you_.' He breathed a heartfelt prayer.

"Go now, son! Find your wife and family. I'm sure that they are concerned for you." The clergyman shooed him off with both hands, but not before a bear hug caught him by surprise. "You're welcome. Now go!"

—-

Appearing in the modest cottage kitchen, the seaman found his wife snacking on leftovers. Upon seeing her husband, Carolyn hurried down a swallow and made an awkward dive into his open arms. He lifted her up where her feet left the floor.

Holding each other tight, no words were spoken. Only Carolyn's sniffles could be heard from a runny nose paired with tears of joy.

"Is it over? Is it _really_ over?" She clasped her arms tighter around his neck.

One hand on her head, Daniel kissed her temple. "It's over. It's _really_ over, my love." The moist sensation in his eyes returned.

"Hold out your hand, Darling, and close your eyes," he instructed in a copy-cat move as he planted her feet back on solid ground.

"What is it?" Carolyn released him, setting her gaze on his blue eyes.

"Trust me, Dear." He held up his index finger.

His wife complied with a look that secretly asked 1000 questions.

The sea captain placed the rings into her petite hand, minus the salt and chips.

"There, now, my Darling. You may look." Was he holding his breath?

She slapped a cupped hand over her mouth. Tears spilled over the rims of Carolyn's eyes once more.

"But, how?" She cradled her one hand under the other.

"Yes, that is what I said, Dear." Daniel tugged long fingers on his ear.

"Our chip-eating pastor friend gave them to me. Muir had thrown them into the ocean when I was… imprisoned. They were captured by a fish and returned to us."

Carolyn whispered her own prayer of thanksgiving.

"Put them on me, dear, like you did at the ceremony." She held out her dainty hand.

"With pleasure, my love." Taking the rings, he placed them in proper order and took her hand in his. "With these rings do I wed thee… Carolyn…"

The rings slid onto their rightful place with minor difficulty.

"A little swollen from the pregnancy," Carolyn faltered.

"It is of little consequence, dear." He planted a breathless kiss on her mouth.

Grabbing his arms, Carolyn had a thought skip across her mind.

"Daniel! I almost forgot. Your injuries. Are you alright now?" She groped over the new shirt that he wore.

"I am fine, my love. See? All is well." Raising the shirt revealed no wounds had remained.

"Oh, thank goodness!" She plopped back down into her chair, fanning herself with one hand.

With an appreciative look that dissolved his fears, Daniel turned to the shelves and motioned a glass over to the sink. The spigot opened without any obvious help, filling the glass with water. Hovering in the air, it started to glide to his wife.

Carolyn was covering a snicker, now.

"By the way, Daniel, I want to speak with Bobby one more time."

Water and glass fell to the floor.

"What!?" Abruptly swinging his head around, the seaman's temper escalated to boiling. "Why on earth would you want to speak with your ex-husband who has brought upon us so much pain and grief?!" At that moment, he caught the error.

"Muir _and_ Vanessa…." The captain corrected himself.

A reassuring hand was placed on the ghost husband's arm.

"I just want him to know how happy I am to be your wife and that any idea of reconciliation should be abandoned."

The boiling pot calmed to a simmer.

"Perhaps that would be an acceptable conversation, Dear." Daniel called for a dish towel to clean up the spilled water.

"Good, I'm glad to hear you say that, Daniel, because I've recently received a letter from Blair. He wants to come here for a visit. He says that he's ready for me to marry him."

_'3… 2… 1, blast off!' _Carolyn muttered to herself sporting a mischievous grin.

"WHAT!?" Daniel's temper soared skyward. The water glass that lay on the floor exploded while shelves in the kitchen shook, making dishes rattle.

"Can I **assume **that you have informed that half-wit in ice cream britches that you are now happily married _and_ expecting a child?!" He glowered through bared teeth.

"I will write him at my earliest convenience to inform him, my husband," she cooed, walking her fingers up his puffed chest.

"Why do you toy with me like this, woman?" He was giving her the stink eye.

Carolyn motioned for him to bend down, making it easier to whisper in his ear.

"Because sometimes you can be absolutely adorable when you're jealous. Martha and the kids won't be back for another few hours." She blew a warm stream of air directly into his ear, which resulted in a surge of heat engulfing the seaman and catapulting his angered expression into one of unexpected glee. "Catch me… if you can… husband." A final moist kiss to his ear lobe and Carolyn backed away, before she turned and headed out from the kitchen, giggling as she departed.

It was her open invitation to a game of chase. One of her husband's favorites. Growling his response, Daniel initiated his pursuit. "It is useless to hide, my love. I will _always_ find you, _catch _you, and _keep_ you for myself!"

Exactly what Carolyn wanted to hear.

—-

5 days later at the former Black Veil compound.

Reclining on a bed and reading, 'Molly' had become most fascinated with the latest book that she had procured from a stack that was made available. It was about a handsome sea captain whose bravery had made him into a hero.

Deep in the recesses of Molly's mind, a seed of suggestion broke open with a _hiss_ and took root. A tiny sprout began its growth in her thoughts. One word found form. Puzzled, she mouthed it in a whisper.

"Vanessa." She rolled it over, again. "Vanessa?" Molly's eyebrows knit together for a moment as she pondered the name.

Shrugging her shoulders, Molly returned to the captain in her book.

The End.

Thank you so much reading my story, Estrangement, on FF. I hope the that you enjoyed it as part of the 'Entrapment Trilogy.'

Stay tuned for my next GAMM story on FF. The next one will be a short story that picks up right after Entrapment.


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